Tonight We Are Young
by celaenos
Summary: During an unusual case the team is thrown for a loop when Emily and Reid are injected with something that leaves them appearing as little children. Hopefully Emily and Reid can finally have some semblance of a happy childhood, even temporarily. Winner for CMProfiler's Choice awards 2012 Best Emily/Reid.
1. Chapter 1

**I've wanted to do an AU CM fic for a while. I've read a couple of great ones with members of the BAU as children and really wanted to try one of my own. This is simply for fun and not to be taken too seriously. Oh and Will mostly annoys me, so for this story pretend he and JJ decided to remain just friends and he is still in New Orleans and he comes up and visits Henry periodically and Haley has already died. Hopefully, you enjoy:)**

***edit 10/25/12 **

**Thank you SO MUCH to all those that nominated me for a CM Profilers choice award. It's astonishing and lovely that you liked my story so much. Go check out all the nominations and vote! There are some fantastic fics out there:)**

***edit 1/3/13**

**Thank you so much for voting for the story. I'm thrilled to win the Emily/Reid slot for the CMProfiler's choice awards. You are all amazing and I'm so glad you liked the story:)**

_ "It is never too late to have a happy childhood." _

_-Tom Robbins_

Hotch simply stared. He wasn't one usually at a loss for what to do in any situation, he was the leader of the team after all but...he simply stared.

"Hotch?" Morgan's voice crackled in his ear. "What's going on man? Rossi and I are coming in through the back. You guys good in there?"

"Um...not really." JJ answered for him. She was standing next to Hotch and her face mimicked his own, open mouth in shock.

"Guys? Seriously? What? We're on our way. Are Prentiss and Reid okay?"

"That depends." Hotch finally found his voice.

"On what man! We heard shots!" Morgan's voice grew angry and Hotch didn't blame him, he simply had no idea how to explain the situation. Hearing footsteps behind him, he realized in a moment he wouldn't have to. Rossi and Morgan would have to see it for themselves.

"Aaron what is going..." Rossi trailed off as he took in the sight before him. "What the..."

"Fuck?" Morgan finished for him. The dark man dropped his gun and stared, looking back and forth between JJ and Hotch for clarification, but receiving none. "Who are those kids? Where are Prentiss and Reid?"

"Those kids are Prentiss and Reid." Hotch finally said.

"Come again?" Rossi asked calmly.

"They were right ahead of us, they entered and we began to clear the room. Wilson came up behind them and injected them both with something. We fired and he went down, he's dead but they...well, we blinked and that happened." JJ said, baffled. As she spoke the two young children in front of them began stirring. All of it had happened so fast no one really knew what was going on. The brunette sat up and blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings straight. Once she caught sight of everyone, she began to rise, watching as everyone looked at her oddly.

"What?" She accused. Morgan's jaw dropped and she frowned. "Why does my voice sound weird? Why are you all staring at me?" She froze. "Why did my pants just slide down?" She squeaked.

"You're a child!" Reid exclaimed in a tiny high pitched voice. Looking down at himself his voice rose an octave. "_I'M _A CHILD!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Emily screamed furiously, trying again to stand but tripping on her too long pants and falling onto her face.

"We're not sure, we need...Dave, call an ambulance."Hotch ordered.

"And tell them what?"

"I have no idea, but he injected them with something and clearly, this is not normal and we have no idea what its doing to them." He said in a lowered voice.

"I am not getting in a fucking ambulance." Emily growled. JJ winched at the oddness of the harsh words coming out of someone who looked like she was six or seven years old. Hotch hesitated a minute, even with everything that was happening, Emily managed to look tough as a child. "Hotch." She growled again.

"Fine, we'll take them to the hospital ourselves. Rossi, stick around and help the locals with the body and the rest of the scene, then meet us at the hospital." Hotch ordered. Rossi nodded and headed downstairs. Hotch turned back to his other agents and sighed. "Um...let's go."

Emily and Reid tried getting up to walk, but both tripped over themselves multiple times. "Oh for christ sake." Morgan muttered and moved to pick Emily up.

"I will break your fingers." She hissed. Smartly, Morgan pulled back and lifted Reid into his arms, despite the boy's angry protests.

"Kid, shut it." Morgan ordered. Reid pouted, but allowed himself to be carried downstairs and outside, knowing it would have taken him forever until he was in clothing that fit his current body.

JJ shot a glance to Emily and the brunette groaned as she tried to walk yet again and tripped. "Fine." She muttered. JJ bit back a smirk and easily swooped Emily up into her arms, surprised that she was quite light. "This is mortifying." Emily moaned, dropping her face into JJ's neck as they made their way outside.

"I think its kind of funny." JJ said with a smile. Emily pinched her side hard. "Ouch! Em! I will drop you!" JJ threatened.

"I'm a child!" Emily yelled, half in protest and half just in horror at the situation.

"We'll get it sorted out." JJ said softly and deposited Emily into the back of the SVU with Reid before climbing in next to her. Leaving the other car for Rossi, the three of them easily fit in the back with two of their agents now considerably smaller than they had been half and hour ago. Hotch quickly turned the car on and pealed out, speeding to the hospital.

"This is like physically impossible." Morgan muttered from the passenger seat.

"Obviously not." Reid stated matter of factly from behind him. "Clearly he made scientific discoveries as we are now in children's bodies."

"Shut up Reid." Emily said, angrily folding her arms across her chest.

"Don't be mean Em." JJ chastised her involuntarily. Emily only pouted further.

"This is insane." Hotch whispered to himself. They quickly parked and ran into the hospital, ignoring Emily and Reid's protests as they were once again picked up and carried. "We need some help." Hotch said to the nearest doctor. He explained the situation and Morgan handed over the syringes he had picked up from the floor. Clearly shocked, the doctors took Emily and Reid away to check them over while the three other agents sat down, exhausted, confused, and worried for their friends. "This is insane." Hotch repeated.

"This is fucking nuts." Morgan corrected him. JJ nodded and leaned her head back against the wall. The three of them waited, Hotch and Morgan paced while JJ sat very still. Rossi walked up to them about forty minutes later, coffee in his hands.

"Oh thank god." JJ moaned as she took her cup from him.

"Any news?" He asked.

Morgan shook his head as his phone rang. "Shit, its Garcia. She's gonna flip."

JJ noticed the doctor coming towards them with Emily and Reid, still looking very much like children, now donned in hospital gowns and each with a lollypop. For some reason, this both highly amused her and warmed her heart a little. They looked adorable. "Morgan, maybe hold off on her a minute." She said. He caught sight of them and nodded, hitting the silencer on his phone and walking over to the doctor.

"Are they alright?" Hotch asked immediately.

"Physically, yes, they are perfectly healthy." She began as Emily and Reid sat down in the seats and ignored the adults completely. Too absorbed it tearing open their suckers. "We've sent the syringes for testing, there was some residual liquid left in both of them, combined, there is enough to test."

"There were more chemicals at the scene, I've brought everything." Rossi said, holding up a bag. "I had the officers take note and catalogue it all already. So its all yours."

"Thank you, that will be very helpful." The doctor said, smiling at him and taking the bag. "Unfortunately, as you can see, this is a highly usual situation." Leading the adults out of Emily and Reid's earshot, she lowered her voice. "They appear to be around the ages six and four, both seem to hold all knowledge and memories of their adult life, but their impulses are very childlike."

"What does that mean?" Morgan asked, shooting a worried look back at his friends and feeling his phone vibrate again. He hit silent seeing Garcia's name pop up again.

The doctor sighed. "Children react more on natural impulses. They can only focus on so many things at a time, they can bounce back from things quickly, they get tired easily, etc. While Agent Prentiss and Agent Reid both retain all the knowledge that they've had, they are going to act like children their ages normally would as well."

"That makes no sense." Morgan said in frustration. "Can you fix it? Change them back?"

"We can't do anything without testing the information your...unsub? Is that what you call him? Had. It could do further damage and we don't know what we're working with. In the tests we've done with them so far, they are healthy. We'll call you the second we know anything more, and if you see any signs that there is something wrong, bring them back in...until them..."

"They're going to be children?" Hotch asked.

"I'm afraid so." She nodded grimly. "And while they may think like adults, and want to be treated like adults, they are not quite adults and shouldn't be allowed to live on their own. They are going to act more like incredibly smart children rather than their usual selves."

Hotch sighed and shook her hand. "Thank you."

"I'll call the minute I know anything more." She assured them, then walked away with the bag.

"Well, this sucks." Rossi stated. Morgan gave him a harsh laugh and groaned as his phone rang again.

"Hi Baby girl." He said gently.

"DEREK MORGAN YOU HAVE BEEN IGNORING MY PHONE CALLS! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW!" Garcia's voice screamed though the phone. JJ couldn't help but smirk at the wince on Morgan's face as he pulled the phone away from his ear.

"I'm sorry, we we're talking to the doctors."

"DOCTORS! WHO'S HURT? ARE THEY OKAY!" Garcia screamed.

"Calm down, yeah they are, sort of. I'll, I'll explain it all just calm down." Morgan nodded to Hotch and stepped away from the group to talk to her.

Hotch glanced at JJ and Rossi and al three of them looked down at Emily and Reid. Emily was kicking her feet back and forth impatiently and Reid was trying not to fall asleep on her shoulder. Being six seemed to make Emily cranky and she kept pushing Reid's head away in annoyance. He looked ready to cry. "What are we gonna do with them?" JJ asked Hotch.

"They're going to have to stay with us, we can't leave them alone." Hotch said. Morgan walked back over to them with a grim look on his face.

"She's simultaneously freaking out and really excited to play with them." He said with a tight laugh. "So, you and JJ taking them?"

"What?" JJ asked.

"Well, you guys have kids..." Morgan said before trailing off at the look on JJ's face. "Dude, I am not taking care of Reid." Morgan protested.

"Do _not _look at me." Rossi said firmly.

Hotch and JJ shared glances and sighed. "We'll take turns." He stated mostly to Morgan. "We have no idea how long this will go on. I'll take Reid, you take Emily?" He asked JJ. She nodded.

"Reid!" Emily yelled as his head dropped onto her for the fifth time. Clearly, they were both cranky and tired. It was almost midnight.

"Should we head back to the hotel, or the jet?" Rossi asked.

"Let's just go to the jet. We're already packed, Garcia can check us out over the phone right?" Hotch asked. Morgan nodded and sent a quick text to Garcia before calling the pilot. Hotch walked over and picked Reid up just as Emily wound up to hit him and glared at her. Sheepishly, she sunk into herself, remembering that she was an adult and knew not to hit her friends.

"They can't fix us can they?" Emily asked in a soft voice.

JJ bent down in front of her. "No, not yet, they've got to test the chemicals first." She tried not to talk down to Emily, knowing that would piss her off. It was hard when she looked so little and scared. "You can stay with me and Henry for a while though!" She smiled.

"Ughh this is really gonna suck." Emily moaned as she dropped her head roughly against JJ's shoulder. JJ smirked and didn't take the statement personally. She chose to assume that her friend meant being stuck as a child rather than not wanting to stay with her. JJ took her hand and led Emily out to the car.

Reid had fallen asleep, but Emily was adamant about not seeming like a child and was desperately trying to stay away. Both Morgan and JJ tried to convince her to stop as they were tired themselves, but she wouldn't listen to them. Apparently she was much more stubborn as a child than she was as an adult, and that was saying something. By the time they boarded the jet and took off, Rossi and Reid were out cold. Morgan gave up on helping JJ, pulled his headphone's over his ears and passed out as well. Hotch went back to paperwork despite the look JJ gave him and the blonde tried to get Emily to lay down but she refused.

"Fine Em, but _I'm_ going to sleep." JJ said pulled a blanket over herself, setting up a pillow and leaning against the window. Emily crossed her arms and sat up straight next to her, staring across at Morgan. She felt an overwhelming urge to draw on his face while he slept and wondered where the hell that had come from. It was her last thought before she finally broke down and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>When Morgan woke up he looked across the seats and smiled. JJ was curled up against the window, Emily had fallen asleep practically on top of her. It was actually really cute. He whipped out his phone and snapped a picture, knowing he could tease the brunette with it later on. He sat up further and caught Rossi watching him. "Oh come on man, its funny."<p>

Rossi waved his hands. "I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, you were not saying it real loud. What time is it?"

"Five am. Plane just landed. I want to still be asleep."

"God, me too." Morgan groaned, but stood up and gave JJ a gentle shake, trying not to wake up Emily.

"Go away." JJ groaned without opening her eyes.

"We're home." He explained. She kicked her foot out at him and he dodged out of the way.

Hotch walked back into the plane, having already loaded his and Reid's bags into his car. "No one has to be in until after noon; we're going to have to explain the situation to Strauss."

"Shit." Morgan groaned. "I didn't even think about that."

"Yeah, its not going to be pleasant, I suggest you all go home and get some sleep." Hotch said as he bent down to pick up the still sleeping Reid. He easily shifted the now little boy into his arms and made his way down to his car with a final nod to his sleepy team. Rossi nodded to them both and went out to his own car.

"Jayje, want me to carry her?" Morgan asked as he stretched his arms. JJ rubbed her eyes and shifted a little before realizing Emily was sort of on top of her.

"If you don't mind."

Morgan shook his head and picked her up, shifting her onto his hip and slinging his bag over his other shoulder before following Rossi down the steps. JJ sat up quickly, grabbed her bags and Emily's and headed down after him. Morgan loaded Emily into the car, stuffing her into Henry's car seat. "Need anything else?" He asked.

"No, thanks Morgan, see you later."

"Night."

JJ shook her head and tuned the radio on low in an attempt to wake herself up a bit more and drove home. Will had come up for the week to stay with Henry and she had already called him before the jet had taken off, explaining the situation. He hadn't quite believed her, and she didn't blame him. One of her best friends was currently small enough to fit – albeit not comfortably – into her son's car seat. She could see her in the rearview mirror, yet she was having a hard time believing it.

JJ cut the engine and yawned, trying to decided where to set Emily up for the rest of the night, Will was sleeping in her guest bedroom, he always did when he stayed with Henry. She was afraid if she left Emily on the couch downstairs she would either wake up disoriented and confused, or Henry would come running down and wake her up and it would freak him out. She finally decided just to toss Emily in with her. She was too tired to bother worrying about it anymore. Leaving her bags in the car, she got out and unbuckled Emily. The brunette stirred a little but JJ rubbed her back and shushed her, thankfully, it worked, just as it always did with Henry. Emily snuggled into her and she locked the car, happily walking inside. She carried Emily upstairs and gently plopped her down onto the large bed, not bothering to do anything but remove their shoes and pull the covers over them. She had already set her alarm for 9:30, and she closed her eyes happily.

* * *

><p>Hotch lifted Reid up and carried him inside his apartment. Careful to be as quiet as possible not to wake up Jessica or Jack. He set Reid down onto the couch, took off his shoes and pulled a blanket over him. Locking the door, he shuffled back down to his room and climbed into his bed, hoping to get at least an hour or two of sleep.<p>

Someone was sitting on top of his chest.

Hotch's eyes fluttered open. "Hi Daddy!" Jack whispered excitedly. Hotch rolled his eyes over and caught a glance at the bedside table clock, it was 8:19. Well, he'd _almost_ gotten three hours. "Daddy, there is a boy on the couch." Jack announced.

"Yeah, I know buddy, that's Spen...Reid, that's Reid. He's going to be staying with us for a little while."

"Cool! Reid like Spencer you work with's last name?"

"Yep, a lot like that." Hotch said with a small smile. He didn't want to even try to explain anything to Jack. He would simply have new friends named Reid and Emily for a little while. Hopefully, that would suffice for the six year old.

"He's staying for breakfast?"

"And for a few days."

"In my room?"

"If you don't mind, we've got the air mattress."

"Like a sleepover for a lot of nights?" Jack asked, his face glowing with excitement.

"Yep."

"Awesome!" Jack leapt from his position on Hotch's chest and cheered. "Aunt Jessica! He's staying! Wake him up!"

"No!" Hotch said, getting up and following Jack. "Let him sleep...oh hey Reid." Hotch waved good morning seeing that Reid was already sitting up and awake.

"Hi Hotch." He said frowning as he realized he was still in his hospital gown.

"Are you sick?" Jack asked.

"No, he's not sick, do you think Reid could borrow some of your clothes for today Buddy?" Hotch asked.

"Sure, come on Reid." Jack said, grabbing his hand and yanking him down the hall. Hotch shot Reid a grateful look as he was pulled away. It was kind of funny how much smaller he was than Jack.

"Wow." Jessica said after they had gone. "So...I mean...you know what, I don't really know what to say. It happened to Agent Prentiss too?"

Hotch nodded. "None of us really know what to say." He moved over to the kitchen and began making breakfast. "Not even the doctors, they're still running tests."

"What did your boss say?"

"We'll find out in a few hours." Hotch said with a grim smile.

"Oh, well have fun with that." Jessica smirked, knowing what Hotch had told her about Strauss.

"Oh, thanks." Hotch said sarcastically. Jack and Reid ran back into the kitchen and climbed up onto the stools. Reid looked hilarious as Jack's clothes were a little too big for him. He was going to have to get Reid some new clothes of his own. Or, he would make Garcia, that would probably be a job she would love. He was thinking his decision to take Reid over Emily was definitely a good one. Reid was probably much easier to handle and all of his facts were just as interesting – if not more so – to Jack as they were when he had been an adult. Having Reid around was actually making Jack easier to handle. Sometimes he was grumpy in the morning. Once they'd had breakfast, Jack forced Reid to play with him – to which thankfully he complied – and Hotch took a shower and got everything in order for his meeting with Strauss. Jessica headed back to her apartment while Hotch piled Jack and Reid into the car. They dropped Jack off at school and Hotch and Reid drove to the bureau.

"You know, considering my current height and weight it would be much safer for me to ride in a car seat like Jack. If we were to get into an accident right now, the probability of my death would be highly likely."

Hotch sighed. "Reid, if you stop talking about it, I'll find one of Jack's old ones and put it in the car okay?"

"Alright. We'll need to find one for Emily too, she's also much to small to ride safely without one."

"Why don't you tell that to JJ once we get inside?"

"Good idea!" Reid said as he climbed out of the car. Hotch rolled his eyes and followed after him, giving a nod to Rossi and Morgan as he headed up to his office. Reid ran right over to his desk without a second thought and began filling out his paperwork for the case. Morgan watched in awe. "What?" Reid asked as he looked up.

"Nothing Kid, I just...well I kinda forgot." He admitted.

Emily and JJ walked in from the elevators and a very grumpy looking Emily stalked over and sat down at her desk. "This blows." She announced.

Morgan smirked. "Hey Princess."

"I have no qualms about punching you Morgan." The tiny girl growled at him.

"It probably wouldn't hurt with your tiny little arms." He teased.

"Morgan!" JJ scolded. She gripped the back of his neck tightly and he winced. "Today is really not the day. If you make her mood get worse, I will make you take her home tonight instead."

"I take it Miss Prentiss is not easy as a child." Rossi asked, with a laugh. He instantly wiped the smile off his face once JJ shot him a look.

"She's a freaking dream." She said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Emily pouted. "I am not bad!" Her lower lip quivered and everyone froze. This whole, they were adults but not quite thing was hard to judge. Right now, Emily looked very much like a six year old on the verge of a breakdown.

"No, I never said that Em." JJ said her voice switching maternal in an instant. "We just had a rough start right?"

"That was Henry's fault! Not mine!" Emily protested. "I didn't know he was gonna jump on me! It hurt! I'm littler now!" Emily began to cry, and then was instantly embarrassed at the fact and ran into the bathrooms.

"Shit. Tell, Hotch we'll be back in a few." JJ said and took off after her. "Emily?" She knocked on the only closed stall. "I'm sorry."

"No _I'm_ sorry." Emily's muffled answer came back through the stall. "I feel like an idiot. I was horrible to you and Henry and Will this morning. Its just...I was really hoping it was all a bad dream and then...it wasn't. And I can't control this and I feel like a six year old and I hated being a kid when I _was_ a kid! I hate it even more now!"

"We know Em, I'm not mad. Neither was Will or Henry, somehow we'll figure this out okay?"

"I fucking hate this!" Emily yelled as she wrenched the stall door open and another female agent walked into the bathroom. Mortified, Emily instantly went back into the stall.

"Wow, a mouth on that one huh? I thought you only had a son Agent Jareau."

"Umm...yeah she's not my daughter." JJ wasn't sure if other agents were going to be informed on the situation or not. Hotch hadn't briefed them on what to tell people yet. "Come on out Em, we've got to go." Praying Emily would listen to her adult side or whatever and just come out she waited. Thankfully, Emily opened the door. Without looking at the other agent she quickly walked over to JJ and tugged on her shirt trying pull her out.

"Your niece?"

"Hum." JJ let the agent take that however she wanted, and followed Emily out of the bathrooms and up into the conference room. The rest of the team was already gathered, including Garcia who was making a very large fuss over Reid. Once she caught sight of Emily, she squealed. Before JJ could stop her, she lunged and pulled the brunette into a crushing hug.

"Garcia!" Emily yelled, trying to shove the bubbly blonde away.

"She almost suffocated me." Reid stated somewhat proudly as Emily groaned.

"Oh my god."

Everyone froze, recognizing Strauss' voice. Garcia released Emily and Strauss got a good look at the two of them.

"That's really Agents Prentiss and Reid?" Strauss asked, astonished.

"Yes Ma'am." Hotch said, moving forward. He explained the entire situation from finding the unsub's identity, to the scene where Emily and Reid had been injected, to everything that had taken place at the hospital. "They will inform us the minute they know anything...in the meantime..."

"Your team is off rotation." Strauss said firmly.

"Ma'am..." Emily began to protest. She still had the ability to make 'ma'am' sound just as much like a curse word as she had as an adult. JJ quickly moved forward and clamped her hand over her friend's mouth before she had the chance to say anything further that would come back to bite her in the ass once she was back to normal.

"You're down two team members, there are other teams who can take the cases until we've got this all sorted out. Keep it under wraps, god knows we do not want the media getting a hold on this."

"Yes ma'am."

"I...can they do paperwork?"

"We're right here ma'am." Emily said with a glare as she shoved JJ's hand away. "And we're not deaf."

"Right, keep them out of the bullpen. They can finish their paperwork, then I want them out of sight, all of you...two weeks vacation. Hopefully you won't need that long." Strauss gave one final look to Emily and Reid, shook her head and walked out.

"Alright!" Morgan cheered. "Vacation."

"After you finish your paperwork." Hotch reminded him.

Garcia turned to Emily and Reid, a wicked grin on her face. "You two are coming shopping with me!" She cheered. Reid instantly looked panicked and Emily looked ready to murder Garcia. "This is gonna be so much fun!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your reviews so far, hope you continue to enjoy:)**

If Garcia held up one more pink fluffy skirt in front of Emily she was going to smack her. "Garcia, I am not wearing any of this." She growled.

"Emily, come on!" Garcia wined. "Henry and Jack are boys, girls clothes are so much cuter and there's so much more of them! Unless one of you pops out a little girl anytime soon, this is the only time I'll get to do this. Please?"

Emily glared at Garcia while Reid came out of the dressing room, clad in the exact same clothes he usually wore. Even Emily had to admit, it looked adorable on him as a pint sized boy. Garcia squealed with delight. He immediately sat down and began mismatching socks, pulling on one green one and one blue one. Emily hoped that Reid would be enough of a distraction. No such luck. Garcia bounded back over and shoved a bunch of clothes into her hands before pushing her into the dressing room.

"Try them all on and I promise I'll try to find something else you normal looking." She yelled through the door.

Emily sighed and picked through the clothes, finding the most neutral items she could find, she began to change. When she walked out Garcia almost broke her eardrums. "I'm not buying all these Garcia. I will let you pick one of these, I'm finding the rest." She stated firmly. Garcia pouted but agreed. Emily headed off in search of the least obnoxious clothes she could find. Reid followed along behind her.

"You're not going to be too much longer are you? I want to go back and finish my paperwork."

"Reid, I am not gonna wear that frilly crap, help me find something normal and we can go. I don't want to be here any more than you."

"Okay!" Reid skipped over and began pulling shirts and pants down. A saleswoman walked over to them and smiled.

"You're little brother is so cute." She gushed.

"He's not my..." Emily shot a look over her shoulder at Reid and sighed. She was not supposed to draw attention to herself. Act like a child. "He's annoying." Emily said. She had always wanted a sibling, but she was pretty sure most girls would find their kid brother annoying. It sounded like the right response.

"Oh, come on, he's adorable and so are you." She smiled bent down to Emily's level. It took all her restraint not to smack the condescending smile off her face. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I got it." Emily said, snatching a black t-shirt and walking over to Reid. Knowing the saleswoman was still watching, she grabbed Reid's hand and pulled him away back to the dressing rooms.

"Slow down!" Reid yelled. "My legs are short now!"

"Sorry, I just wanna get out of here." Emily apologized. Catching sight of Garcia she sighed in relief. "Okay, I found some stuff, Reid's good, can we pay and leave now?"

"Yes, but I bought both of you a surprise."

Emily and Reid shared a panicked look.

"Oh relax you two, come on." Garcia took their clothing up to the cashier and paid, the two of them following behind. Emily had to admit, it was a relief to be wearing clothes that fit. They carried their bags out to Garcia's car and climbed in. Reid went on and on about how unsafe they both were and kept announcing when he saw red lights. Emily watched Garcia grit her teeth for the fifth time and smacked him on the arm.

"Shut up, I'm not sitting in a car seat and _you're _gonna make us get in an accident if you don't leave her alone."

"Hotch is getting me one. I have no intentions of dying simply because of my temporary size." Reid said.

"Well, good for Hotch. I'm not sitting in one."

"I told him to make JJ get you one."

"She's not gonna do that."

"She probably will, if she cares about your safety, which she does."

Emily's eyes widened. "She wouldn't dare."

Reid just smirked while Garcia tried not to laugh.

The three of them headed back into the BAU after depositing Reid's new clothes in Hotch's car and Emily's in JJ's. She refused to tell them what the surprise clothes were. Morgan laughed at the sight of them but held his tongue once JJ kicked him from under the table. Emily and Reid both began to climb onto their desks to fill out their paperwork.

"Guys." JJ whispered. "You can't do it here remember? Hotch said you can use the conference room."

Emily sighed and climbed down, trying to lift her stack of folders. Reid was having even more trouble than her. Rossi shared a look with JJ and Morgan before standing and grabbing Reid's files just before he dropped them. "Why don't we all head in there?" He asked. Emily was about to protest about being treated differently but he continued before she had the chance. "Its hot down here, and Anderson is driving me nuts." Anderson held his arms up in protest but Rossi ignored him. Stacking his own files on top of Reid's he walked up the stairs, the tiny boy genius following behind him. JJ moved to help Emily but stopped when the brunette glared at her.

"I can carry papers myself." Emily insisted. Realizing her friend was just trying to help, she softened her voice. "Thanks though, I got it."

JJ nodded and followed Emily and Morgan up the stairs. Garcia had gotten them all coffee, and much to Reid and Emily's horror, had declined from getting them some. "Coffee is bad for little kids. I don't want to ruin your brains or something."

Reid stared at every one of his team members in horror. Emily just looked annoyed but went back to her files. She realized she didn't actually have the urge to drink the coffee, but Reid looked like someone had just killed his puppy in front of him. "I need coffee." He stated in as calm of a voice as he could muster.

"Reid...you are four years old." Morgan reminded him.

"I am thirty years old!" Reid yelled. "AND I DEMAND TO BE ALLOWED TO HAVE COFFEE."

Six heads turned and looked at the tiny boy in shock. They had all seen Reid angry before, even testy and a little mean, but no one had ever seen him scream like that. He looked livid and very much like a four year old in the middle of a tantrum. No one said a word, they were all too shocked. Hotch walked down the hall and stuck his head into the conference room.

"Reid..." He said calmly. "Is something wrong?"

Reid turned to Hotch, his face still bright red with anger. "They won't give me any coffee!" He accused. "I am not really four Hotch, I demand to be allowed to have coffee."

Hotch looked and Reid and then up at the rest of his team. They were all silent, waiting to see what would happen. Emily was watching Reid in fascination. "Reid, Garcia and Morgan are right..." Hotch began. Reid's face grew redder and he jumped out of his seat, running at Hotch and trying to get past him. Hotch caught him and held him in place easily. "Wait, you didn't let me finish." He said gently. Reid's little body was shaking with anger. Hotch had never seen him like this and it worried him. "They are right, it probably isn't good for you...but if you want it...you can have one cup a day alright? One. And not one huge mug either, one normal sized mug."

Reid glared at him but calmed down considerably. He took a deep breath. "For the record, I do not approve of this, but okay." Reid walked back over to his seat, hopped up and bent over his files. When no one moved or said a word he looked up. "What?"

"Nothing." Rossi said before Morgan could speak, I'm getting a refill, anyone else want one?"

"I would like a cup please." Reid asked.

"You got it, Emily?" Rossi asked. The brunette shook her head and kept writing. Rossi walked out of the conference room with Hotch. "Well that was..."

"Very unlike Reid." Hotch finished for him.

"Do you think we should be worried about this?"

"I'm worried about all of it Dave, they're in children's bodies and clearly they are going to act like children. That was a typical temper tantrum and he bounced back just as quickly as most little kids would. I've seen Jack do it a million times. This is what the doctor warned us about, we're just going to have to find some balance between treating them like themselves and taking care of them."

"This is going to be a very interesting two weeks." Rossi muttered.

"Lets pray its not actually two weeks." Hotch said with a small smile. "Are you guys almost done?"

"Yeah, probably another hour or so."

"Alright, tell Reid to come find me when he's done, once your finished, everyone is dismissed." Hotch walked back into his office. He had extra paperwork prepping the other teams on his case files. He wasn't thrilled about the time off, but he was going to take advantage of it and spend as much time with Jack – and apparently Reid – as he could.

Rossi returned to the conference room and gave Reid his coffee, he greedily sipped it and cried out when he burned his tongue. "Spence." JJ said lovingly. He glared at her and bent back over his files, writing furiously. JJ didn't take it personally and went back to her own work, yawning. She hadn't gotten a very good night's sleep and Henry had been in a horrible mood that morning. His horrible mood had put Emily into a horrible mood and Will was very sympathetic when he left. He offered to stick around a little longer and try to help, but JJ knew having him around would only make Emily feel more uncomfortable considering the situation. He told her to call if she needed anything and she promised.

After about an hour had passed, the team had finished up their casework and were dispersing. Reid ran off to Hotch's office and curled up with a book to wait while the team leader finished his work. Not before reminding JJ about the safety concerns regarding children under the age of eight and car seats. Emily luged at him, but luckily Morgan caught her in midair. She let out a string of curses and threats involving a loss of his genitals if he didn't put her down that instant. Morgan roared with laughter and held her out in front of him easily. She kicked as hard as she could and he teased her.

"Morgan, come on that's enough." JJ scolded. Emily looked close to tears. Seeing he had gone a little too far Morgan apologized and set her down. Angrily, Emily stalked away from him and stood very close to JJ.

Rossi nodded to them all and headed home as Garcia bounded back over to them. "So, what's the plan?" She asked.

"The plan?" JJ asked as she gathered her things.

"We have a two week vacation! We have to do something fun!"

'"Garcia..." JJ said nodding her head over at Emily. "I don't think we're really up for your normal kind of fun."

"I wasn't suggesting we take a six year old to a bar, we should do fun things with her and Reid!"

"Fun things like what?" Emily asked, flipping her hair out of her coat. "And I'm not six."

Garcia shrugged. "Playground, amusement park, circus, disney world, the world is our oyster, we've got two whole weeks."

Morgan looked skeptical, but game; Garcia looked ecstatic, and JJ frowned. Emily looked up at all three of them and raised her eyebrows in confusion. "I want to take a bath and have a glass of wine, not go to some stupid park. Garcia, just because I look six, doesn't mean I am. I have no intentions of playing for two weeks. I'm going to call that doctor and bug the crap out of her until she figures out how to fix me." Emily walked away from the group and into the elevator. JJ waved goodbye telling Garcia to call her and chased after Emily, catching the elevator just in time.

"Em, I'm your ride." JJ reminded her.

"Sorry." Emily sighed. "I forgot."

"Its okay." JJ smiled. "We've got three hours until I have to pick up Henry from daycare, want to do something fun?"

"If you say take me to a park I swear to god."

JJ laughed and gently shoved Emily's shoulder. "No, I wasn't gonna say that. I dunno, go get a late lunch or something? You hungry?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Emily smiled genuinely for the first time JJ could remember since this whole ordeal had began. JJ couldn't help but think how incredibly adorable her friend was. She was fully aware that this was Emily, her adult friend, but she looked so little and cute. This was going to be a very odd two weeks.

JJ and Emily walked into the restaurant. Emily walked up to the hostess without a second thought. "Table for two please?"

The woman grinned down at her. "You are adorable. Having lunch out with your mom?"

Emily looked thoroughly confused and looked around for her mother before realizing the woman meant JJ. "She's not my mother." Emily responded.

JJ quickly stepped closer to her. "She's my niece."

"Oh, fun, well follow me." The woman grabbed two menus and led them to the back. JJ looked down at Emily and made a face, causing her friend to laugh. They took their seats and JJ passed the menu over to Emily.

"Thanks, _Aunt _JJ." Emily said with a grin. JJ kicked her lightly under the table.

"Can I get you guys anything to drink to start?"

"Just water please?" JJ asked.

"Same for me." Emily said. The woman nodded and headed off while the girls looked over their menus. Emily was silent for a minute or two, deciding what she wanted and setting the menu on the table. Emily watched JJ, kicking her feet back and forth before realizing she was doing it and stopped. It was incredibly odd to be six years old again. Emily had to admit, she had a lot of weird thoughts and urges that a normal adult wouldn't have. She got angry much quicker than usual, impatient, bored, her attention span was horrible, and right now, she really wanted to ask the waitress for a chocolate milkshake. All of it embarrassed her and she tried very hard not to voice it or acknowledge it in any way.

JJ caught Emily watching her and smiled lightly. "What's up Em?" She asked casually.

Emily shrugged. "Nothing."

The waitress came back and took their orders, and gushed over Emily. "She's so well spoken, how old is she?"

"She's for...six and she's right here." Emily said in an annoyed tone. The waitress didn't catch it but JJ did. Once she was out of sight Emily sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry JJ. I'm being a total bitch...this just really sucks."

"Emily, I understand. No one is mad at you."

"I'm sorry about this morning."

"Em, you hardly did anything, Henry can be a little terror all on his own, its already forgotten." JJ said waving it off. "This is weird for everyone and I'll bet your emotions are going to get the better of you again at some point, its not a big deal. We might as well make the most of it."

Emily snorted as the waitress brought them their food. "What'd ya mean?"

JJ took a bite of her pasta and laughed at Emily's distain. "I mean – and don't snap at me – that from what you've told me over the years, you didn't have the greatest childhood." JJ paused momentarily at the look Emily shot her, but the brunette remained silent and waited for JJ to finish. "This could be some weird second chance. Reid's in the same boat as you, of all of us you two...well, you've both got families now – us – and why not take advantage of it?"

Emily stared at JJ in awe. "What, let you and Hotch take me to the park? Play on swings, giggle like an idiot? Call you mommy and daddy? JJ that's insane."

"No, I don't mean that, I mean...I mean enjoy the fact that you have a two week vacation with no responsibilities and friends who want to help. Myself included."

Emily sighed and gave JJ a light smile. "Yeah, I guess." She relented. JJ internally beamed, happy to have gotten through to her friend, if at least temporarily. The two of them finished their food then headed back to the car to go pick up Henry. "Let's be clear on one thing though, I am _not_ riding in a car seat."

"Fine, but you are staying in the back seat at all times." JJ said firmly.

"Fine."

JJ grinned at pulled out of the parking lot.

When they arrived at Henry's daycare, the three year old yelled happily and ran into JJ's arms. Usually, Emily found him adorable – and she still did – but her first thought had been jealously. She had no idea why, but she wanted to shove Henry out of the way and get a hug from JJ herself. Shaking her head at the completely irrational thought she grabbed Henry's bag and went to stand by the door while JJ helped Henry with his shoes. JJ picked Henry up and walked back over to Emily. "Thanks for getting his bag Em." She smiled. Emily just shrugged and followed JJ out.

"Why is she here again?" Henry asked. Emily frowned and kicked a rock as they walked.

"She's here because she's going to stay with us for a little while, its going to be lots of fun!" JJ said as she buckled Henry into his seat. The little boy looked skeptical. "Guess what little man?" JJ asked.

"What?"

"I am on vacation!"

"Really? No work?"

"No work." JJ nodded, giving Emily a smile as the brunette climbed into the back next to Henry and buckled herself in.

As JJ drove them home, Henry stared at Emily. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "What?" She asked, working very hard not to sound angry. She never used to be angry at Henry, she always found him irresistibly adorable.

"I have a friend named Emily too. Mommy's friend. You look kinda like her." He said.

Emily quickly looked up and caught JJ's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Oh, cool." She said casually.

"Do you know her?" He asked. "My Emily?"

Emily grinned, yep, he was back to adorable. "Yeah, I think I've met her once or twice."

"How do you know my mommy?"

Emily looked at JJ again as the car stopped and the blonde quickly jumped in. "From work, Emily and her...cousin Reid are staying here for a few weeks while their parents are away for work. That's how we know her."

"Oh, cool, do you wanna see my dump trucks?" Henry asked as JJ lifted him out of the car.

Emily sighed. Playing with trucks did not sound appealing at all but she knew it would make JJ's life a hell of a lot easier if she kept Henry occupied for a little while. It was the least she could do after yelling at everyone all day long. "Sure Henry, trucks sounds great." She took his hand and let him pull her inside, smiling proudly when JJ mouthed 'thank you'.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for your reviews so far! Hope you continue to enjoy:)**

It was too quiet.

Hotch frowned and stood up from his desk in search of his son. Jack was not generally a quiet kid and the silence was making him nervous. Hearing hushed whispers, Hotch prepared himself to see something broken, or food strewn all over the floor. Instead he was greeted by Jack and Reid sitting contently on the floor, a chess set in between them, both wearing looks of intense concentration. It took everything Hotch had not to burst out laughing at the tongue sticking out of Jack's mouth as he picked up a pawn to move. Reid shook his head furiously and Jack put it back in place with a frustrated sigh. Reid pulled Jack over to him, whispered the correct piece to move and then sat back down as if he hadn't told him. Pouting appropriately when Jack knocked out one of his pieces and looking very much like a real four year old.

Hotch couldn't believe Reid had convinced Jack to play chess. The six year old had forced Reid to play trucks, and superheroes all afternoon. Screaming loudly, crashing into Reid whenever possible, and jumping off of the couch and every surface he could get onto before Hotch lifted him down. Reid hadn't looked thrilled with Jack's forms of entertainment and had spent the entire afternoon trying to convince Jack to learn how to play chess or read a book. Hotch had caught Reid grinning and having a good time more than once however, but pretended not to notice. He was glad that Reid was enjoying himself, he stayed out of their way; knowing if Reid caught Hotch watching them he would get embarrassed for acting like a child. He was just glad Jack was embracing Reid and that the boy genius wasn't sick of him yet. With a playmate for Jack, Hotch had gotten all of his paperwork – and then some – done in one night. Now he had nothing to do for two weeks, something he was not used to.

Jack yawned, which was soon followed by a yawn from Reid. Hotch glanced over to the clock and saw that it was almost 8:17. Time for bed.

"Hey guys, why don't we finish the game in the morning? Jack doesn't have school and I don't have work."

"What about Reid? Does he have school? Like today when he went with you after you dropped me off?" Jack asked, getting up obediently and standing next to his father.

"No, Reid doesn't have school either, we've all got the day off." Hotch said ruffling Jack's hair lightly. His son grinned and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Can we do something fun?"

"Sure buddy, we'll talk about it tomorrow, why don't you head in and get on pjs, brush your teeth and then I'll come in and say goodnight."

"What about Reid's bed?"

"We're gonna set it up now."

"Okay!" Jack took off, eager to have a sleepover with his new friend and Hotch smiled lightly at Reid as the tiny boy walked over to him.

"Thanks for humoring him tonight." Hotch said gratefully. Reid shrugged and didn't look up to meet Hotch's eye. He didn't want to tell his boss that he had fun running around and screaming with a six year old. "Did you get pjs with Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, I think they're in one of the bags."

"Okay, I'm gonna set up the air mattress in Jack's room why don't you go get changed in my bathroom." Hotch said. Reid nodded and started to walk away when Hotch grabbed his arm. "Reid, if Jack bothers you too much in the night, tell me and we can move the mattress out here into the living room. He's talkative, I won't be offended. I want you to actually get some sleep."

"I'm sure it will be fine Hotch, but I'll let you know in the morning." Reid said before heading into the bathroom.

Hotch dug out the air mattress and dragged it into Jack's room. He pumped air into it and found some extra sheets. Making the bed quickly, and finding an extra blanket he got everything set up when Jack bounded back into the room.

"All clean!" He announced, showing off his teeth to his father.

"Good job buddy." Hotch smiled as Jack lunged into him. Hotch lifted him up and dropped him lightly onto the bed, grinning as Jack giggled. "Now, just because we're having a sleepover doesn't mean you get to stay up talking to Reid all night. He's only four Jack and he needs his sleep, so you've got to be nice and quiet okay?"

"I will I promise." Jack said quickly.

"Good."

Reid walked into the bedroom and quickly lay down on his temporary bed. Garcia had gotten him footie pajamas! He was mortified and prayed that Hotch hadn't seen them. He vowed to force Morgan to take him to get something normal tomorrow, he would _not_ sleep in these again. At least if Hotch did see them, he wasn't one who would tell anyone else or make fun of him. Reid had lucked out in that way, but this was all horribly embarrassing. To his credit, Hotch didn't say a word. He bent down and kissed Jack goodnight, before standing up and turning off the lights.

"Goodnight Reid." He said.

"Night Hotch." Reid whispered. Jack had asked why Reid called him that earlier that morning, but didn't seem concerned by it. Reid slunk deeper under the covers and tried very hard to calm his breathing. It was pitch black. Apparently Jack wasn't afraid of the dark. Reid felt like throwing up. He tried to talk to Jack to distract himself, but the boy wasn't having any of it; making good on his promise to his father. Reid tried to concentrate on the fact that he was thirty years old. Thirty year old men were not afraid of the dark, absence of light didn't mean anything ominous, he was fine.

It didn't work.

Somehow, being in this smaller body, he was thinking irrationally. Or rather, he thought rationally, but wanted to do irrational things regardless. Playing with Jack had actually been fun, he had forgotten for a while that he was an adult, stuck in a child's body, playing with his boss's son; and just had fun. He couldn't remember ever doing that before. This however, was extremely problematic. There was no way Reid was going to fall asleep, if he didn't get out of this dark room any minute now he was sure that he would begin to hyperventilate or even worse, cry. Climbing off of the mattress as quietly as possible, Reid ran to the door and pulled it open. It was dark in the hallway too. Panic was definitely setting in. Reid ran down the hall into the bathroom and turned the light on, sighing in relief once light filled the room. He was so relieved and working on calming himself down that he hadn't heard footsteps approaching.

"Reid? Are you alright?" Hotch asked worriedly.

Sheepishly Reid turned to his boss. "Yeah I...well I was just...it was dark." He admitted finally. He resolved that he would have to tell Hotch. Going back into that dark room was not an option and it infuriated him.

Hotch's face softened instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry Reid, I forgot. I'll grab Jack's old night light, hang on a second."

Reid wanted to say don't bother, to act like it wasn't a big deal, but he couldn't. Hotch seemed to understand, and he wasn't making a big deal out of it. Reid remained silent and nodded sharply, angry with himself for acting so childlike. To top it all off, Hotch had now seen the blue footie pajamas. This night couldn't get much worse.

Hotch came back and smiled lightly to Reid. "All set up." He had to stop himself from holding out his hand for Reid. It was instinctual. He looked like a frightened little boy. Hotch found that he wanted to scoop Reid up and give him a hug, but he knew that would only make the boy upset, so he waited until Reid had walked past him and followed behind silently. He was going to make sure Reid was alright whether he was embarrassed or not. "Do you need anything else?" Hotch whispered as Reid climbed back into the bed. Reid shook his head. "Alright, come find me if you do, don't be embarrassed okay?"

"Thanks Hotch." Reid whispered.

"No problem Reid. Get some sleep."

Reid sank down into the covers and smiled at the night light, it was Superman. Reid was well aware of how much Jack idolized his father. He had told him so many times that afternoon that his daddy and his friends were superheroes. Oddly, it comforted Reid to know Hotch was there in case he needed anything. Jack was really lucky to have such a great dad. He fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

><p>"He's out cold." JJ announced as she came back downstairs. Emily looked up and smiled, trying very hard to suppress a yawn. For some reason, she felt like JJ would actually force her to go to bed if she caught her. The blonde had been acting much more like a mother than a friend all night. Cutting up her food, telling her to wash her hands, threatening a time out when she had yelled out in frustration, and playing with her hair. Emily was sure it was just for Henry's benefit, but she wasn't about to take any chances. "Are you tired?" JJ asked as she plopped down next to Emily on the couch. Apparently Emily was going to need to be much more secretive.<p>

"No, I'm good." She waved it off.

JJ frowned but nodded and leaned back against the couch. "I'm a little tired." She admitted. Emily ignored her and mimicked her position on the couch. "Want to get in our pjs and watch a movie?" JJ asked after a minute or two.

"Sure." Emily agreed. She got up and went in search of the bags Garcia had bought. The blonde had gotten pjs for both herself and Reid. Pulling them out Emily stared, horrified at the clothing in her hands. They were bright pink footie pajamas. So this was their, 'surprise'? There was no way in hell she would wear these. "JJ!" Emily called. She went down the hall, the atrocious article of clothing in her hands and shoved JJ's bedroom door open without thinking of knocking first. "Look what Garcia did!" She accused, not registering the fact that she was invading JJ's privacy. The blonde looked a little caught off guard but pulled an oversized t-shirt over her head and walked over to the tiny brunette. She was used to Henry barging into her room and didn't think much of it with Emily either. Realizing what Emily had in her hands, she couldn't help but laugh at the anger on her friend's face. JJ quickly tried to stifle her laugh as the angry expression on Emily's face grew. "JJ!" Emily yelled. "Its not funny! I'm NOT wearing this!"

"Okay, Em, relax you don't have to." JJ said, taking the pjs from Emily's hands she dropped them down onto her bed. "You can wear one of my t-shirts."

"It'll be too big." Emily whined. JJ shook her head as she bent down and opened a drawer. Emily sounded very much like a tired, whiny six year old rather than a professional, private, FBI agent.

"Here." JJ said, handing her one of her smaller t-shirts. Emily groaned, but slipped out of her clothes, unembarrassed to be changing in front of JJ and pulled the t-shirt on. "There you go! Let's go pick a movie." JJ said, taking Emily's hand and leading her downstairs without thinking about it. Once she did realize what she had done, she made to apologize, but Emily hadn't noticed. JJ pretended she didn't either and pulled the little girl down onto the couch. "Anything you in the mood for?" She asked.

Emily shook her head. "Whatever you want." She said trying to suppress another yawn. JJ looked to the clock, it was 9:40pm. She knew if she tried to get Emily to go to bed it would turn into a fight and then her friend would just be angry with her. JJ figured if she put on a movie, and stayed quiet the newfound six year old would just fall asleep. It was her best plan as of right now anyway. JJ flicked through the channels hoping to find something interesting. With nothing on but more than half over shows, they went to the movie channel and picked through the choices. "That's supposed to be good." Emily pointed.

JJ looked at the title. "Its a horror movie."

"So?"

"Well..." JJ trailed off.

"JJ, I've seen a million horror movies."

"Fine." JJ clicked play and pulled a blanket over her legs, snuggling into the couch. Emily pulled her legs into herself and sat cross-legged, eagerly watching the opening sequence. JJ kept an eye on Emily throughout the beginning of the film, taking note of the fact that her friend was inching closer and closer to her over time. After Emily let out a little scream about twenty minutes into the movie, without a word JJ pulled her blanket open and held her arms out. Emily didn't even think twice before moving into them and keeping her fingers covering her eyes. JJ grinned and wrapped her arms around Emily. "We can find something else." She whispered.

"No!" Emily yelled, then slammed her head into JJ's chest as the man on tv screamed and was hit in the head.

"Emily...come on this is creepy. Its gonna give me nightmares." JJ protested.

"You're scared?" Emily asked, her head still hidden in JJ's chest.

"Yeah, you're not? This is creepy." JJ said. Truthfully, she wasn't scared, it _was_ creepy, but nothing she couldn't handle, Emily was genuinely frightened though and she could tell.

"Well...if _you're_ scared we can find something else." Emily agreed. JJ happily turned the movie off and selected a random romantic comedy instead. She heard Emily sigh gratefully and lean back into JJ, not seeming to mind that JJ still had her arms around her. If Emily didn't mind, neither did JJ, the little girl was a pretty good snuggle buddy. As the movie wore on, JJ noticed Emily's breathing change and she stayed still, wanting the brunette to fall asleep. Looking down, she smiled at the content look on Emily's face and turned the volume down low. When Emily didn't protest, JJ simply turned the movie off. She shifted her body carefully, making sure not to wake up Emily and managed to lift the girl up into her arms without waking her.

JJ almost squealed as Emily curled into JJ and instinctually wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. God, Little Emily was adorable. If Garcia had been here, she would flip. Quickly, JJ carried her upstairs and gently deposited her into the guest bed. Tucking her in, she smiled and bent down and kissed her forehead, just like she did with Henry every night before heading back to her own bedroom and going to sleep herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily could feel someone else's presence in her room. Tense and on alert she blinked open one eye and was met with a mop of blonde hair.

Henry.

Crap. She was still stuck in a child's body, still at JJ's, and a three year old was sitting on her legs. Usually, she would have found this adorable, probably would have scooped Henry up and given him a raspberry or something; right now, she wanted to shove him away. "You're still here." He accused.

"Yes I am, get off me." Emily kicked her legs out, confused as to where this intolerance and jealousy towards Henry was coming from. Henry was pushed off and onto the bed, he glared at her.

"_My _mommy is staying with _me_ all day." He informed her.

"I know." Emily said, sitting up and pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Where is _your _mommy?" Henry asked as he sat cross-legged in front of her. "And why aren't you with her?" His initial annoyance and territorial remarks changed to actual curiosity. That made Emily even more closed off. Being in this little body definitely brought out childhood instincts and reactions; that much Emily was now sure of. Thinking about her mother was going to bring up a whole hoard of emotions that she didn't even want to think about as an adult, much less in this confusing state.

"On vacation." Emily replied shortly and got out of bed, hoping that would quell the boys curiosity.

No such luck.

"Where on vacation? Why aren't you with her?"

Emily sighed, took a deep breath and counted to five. "It's not a safe place for little kids, she's in...she's in she's in a war zone." Emily bit her lip. That was and incredibly stupid thing to say, but it was the only thing she could think of that a three year old might understand.

"A war? Is she a solider? My mommy and her friends have guns." He stated proudly. "They catch bad guys. Does your mommy catch bad guys?"

"No." Emily said through gritted teeth. "She works _with_ them daily." She muttered under her breath. The brunette walked down the hall, Henry following right behind. He seemed to have temporarily called a truce and befriended her, happily skipping along downstairs. Emily realized that she was still not a morning person whether she was a child or an adult. She wanted some damn coffee after all.

JJ was in the kitchen, already having made a pot and was currently mixing pancake batter. Music was on and she was dancing a bit and singing along. Emily grinned, it looked like fun. She twirled around and beamed at the sight of them. "Good morning!" She said, her eyes twinkling. "I'm making pancakes."

"Yay!" Henry cheered and ran at his mother full speed. She caught him and the two began to dance. From the looks of it, this was a semi-regular morning routine. No one had ever danced with Emily while they made her breakfast. She couldn't even remember a single instance when she even ate breakfast with either of her parents. Her father was always gone before she woke up and home much after dinner, and her mother was usually the same. Emily generally ate cold cereal, or meals the cooks had already prepared and set out for her in the large, empty dining room. She hated breakfast.

Watching JJ and Henry dance around and stir pancake batter together, Emily tried to picture herself and her mother doing the same, but couldn't. Elizabeth Prentiss would never dance and giggle with anyone, much less a child. Emily sighed and walked away from them, slipping into the bathroom unnoticed. She resolved to make herself as scarce as possible until she was back to normal. JJ had a two week vacation – practically unheard of at the BAU – and a son she probably wanted to spend as much time with as possible. Emily wasn't going to allow herself to get in the way. This whole childhood business was idiotic. Emily didn't really need JJ to take care of her. She would stay out of the way, in the guest room, read the books she had been meaning to get through, mindlessly watch tv, pester the doctor working on their cure, anything, as long as she gave JJ and Henry their space.

Emily washed her hands and hearing her stomach growl, groaned and walked back into the kitchen. JJ probably wouldn't love the idea of Emily staying hold up in the guest room. Even if she had still been an adult, she knew the blonde would have fought her on it. Secretly, she knew it was what JJ wanted, even if the blonde wouldn't admit it to herself or ever tell Emily. She was too good a person. Emily just wouldn't give her a choice.

"Em!" JJ called once she caught sight of the brunette. "Where'd you disappear to? Come dance!"

"No thank you" Emily said politely. If her mother had taught her anything, it was that manners could get you everywhere. JJ's face fell a little, but Emily ignored it and walked past her. Realizing she couldn't actually reach up to get the coffee anymore angered her. She pulled a chair over to the pot and stood up on it, reaching up on her tip toes to get a mug out of the cupboard. Having been to JJ's house many times before, she knew where everything was.

Just as she felt her foot slip, JJ's arms were instantly around her. Catching her just as she began to fall and holding tightly. "Emily!" JJ chastised. "Are you okay?"

Emily nodded and tried to squirm out of JJ's grasp but the blonde held tight. Henry watched them both curiously from below and Emily stopped fighting. "I'm fine JJ." Emily insisted.

"What were you getting?" Henry asked as JJ deposited Emily into a chair by the counter.

"Coffee." Emily muttered.

JJ lifted Henry up and set him down next to Emily with a shocked look on his face. "Coffee is only for grown ups. You're a little kid." He accused.

"I am not." Emily insisted.

"You are too."

"Am not." She had no idea why she was fighting a three year old, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

"Are too."

Emily felt herself growing angry and frustrated. She was certainly bigger than Henry! "Am NOT!" She yelled, shoving her face into his.

"ARE TOO!" He screamed back.

"Both of you stop it or I will put you in time out." JJ warned calmly as she flipped a pancake expertly.

Emily stared at the blonde in shock. "Even me?" She asked.

JJ set the pancake on the plate, poured another one onto the pan and locked her blue eyes with Emily's. "Even you." She stated. Emily was appalled at the notion of being put in time out and immediately shut up. Henry seemed equally as upset at the idea and glared at Emily silently.

JJ ignored both of their bad moods, hoping they would get over them if she didn't give them any attention for it. She finished making breakfast and set the kids plates in front of them. Strategically setting herself up in between the two, they all ate happily. JJ could see right through the jealousy Emily and Henry had for each other. It both amused and saddened her. Henry was perfectly understandable and she had expected as such from him; but she also knew he would get over it quickly and love having Emily around. He adored the adult Emily, and JJ knew he would eventually love the little Emily once he realized she wasn't about to take all of JJ's attention away. Emily's jealousy though, that had come at a bit of a surprise, once she thought about it the night before, it did make sense. JJ knew Emily had a rocky relationship with her mother. Being young again, seeing first hand how JJ and Henry interacted, she could see how it would bother the brunette. It was one of the reasons she had decided to make the most out of this weird turn of events. If nothing else, the previous night and this morning had cemented JJ's decision. She was going to show Emily what it was like to have a mother who cared about you; whether her friend wanted her to or not. JJ had already spoken to Garcia and both blondes were on the same page; Emily and Reid were getting a real family and a real childhood, at least for approximately two weeks.

Once the trio was done eating, JJ sent the two kids upstairs to get dressed for the day – Emily insisted on being allowed to shower – and called Hotch.

"Hi JJ." Hotch said, sounding a little frazzled. JJ could hear Jack yelling in the background and let out a small laugh.

"How are things going?" She asked.

"Umm...I have a very small apartment." Hotch said.

"I take it Jack is enjoying having someone to play with."

"Just a bit, Reid's really being a trouper, half an hour ago Jack forced him to lay on the ground and Jack tried to see if he could jump over him from on the couch." Hotch said with the tiniest bit of amusement in his voice. "He can't." He added.

"Oh god, well, at least yours are getting along."

"Emily and Henry? They love each other."

"Loved." JJ corrected him. "Henry has become very territorial and Emily seems...well, I think I've figured it out but I'm not sure she would want me to repeat it. I'm handling it. But that's partly why I was calling, want to take them all to the park? Wear them out?"

"That sounds great actually, Reid has been asking about the library too I was thinking of taking them in about half an hour."

"Great, how about we meet at the park around noon? Make a picnic lunch out of it? I'll call Garcia and Morgan, see if they want to join."

"I already told Dave he would be required to join me." Hotch said.

JJ could practically see the smile on his face. She laughed and agreed, making a few more plans before hanging up and getting dressed herself. Henry wandered into her room just as she was about to go find him. "Hey Little Man, nice choice." She said, complimenting his outfit for the day, jeans and a Superman t-shirt. Henry walked over and held his arms up waiting to be picked up. JJ smiled and scooped him up with a laugh, kissing him all over his face.

"Mommy!" He squealed with laughter, trying to push her off.

JJ continued tickling and kissing him until she caught sight of Emily in her doorway. "Hey!" She said happily. Emily gave her a tight smile and walked away. JJ frowned and looked to Henry who shrugged. He had no clue what was going on with the older girl, what was his mother looking at him for? "Hey Henry, guess what? We are going to go to the park and have a picnic lunch with Hotch, Jack and some of my team later, how does that sound?"

"Really!" Henry asked excitedly. JJ nodded. "Yay!" He screamed. "Can we go now?"

"No, we'll leave in about an hour or so. Why don't you go play in your room for a little while?"

"Okay!" Henry wriggled down out of her grasp and took off to play with his new toy trucks that his daddy had gotten him.

JJ laughed watching him go, then sighed and went off in search of Emily. She found the brunette in the guest bedroom, sitting on the freshly made bed, perched in the middle with a book on her lap. "Hey Em." She said leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Emily looked up briefly, "hey JJ" and dropped her gaze back to her book.

JJ sucked in her breath, this was going to be more difficult than she thought. "So, I called Hotch and everyone else and we were thinking of having a picnic lunch."

"Okay." Emily said without looking up. "Just tell me when we have to leave."

JJ wanted to stay, force Emily to talk to her, but through years of knowing the brunette she knew that would only push Emily further away. JJ sighed and went back down the hall, deciding to leave Emily be for now and push her later, after Henry was asleep if her weird mood didn't improve as the day went on. JJ got to work doing some very neglected laundry and cleaning for the next hour. Henry playing happily in his room and Emily reading in her own. By the time noon rolled around, JJ had Henry strapped into his car seat, food, sunblock, water bottles, and a few toys packed into the car. The only thing she was missing was a certain raven haired little girl. Just as she was about to call for her again, the sullen Emily walked out of the house, climbed into the car, buckled herself in and rested her head against the window without a single word or look to either JJ or Henry. JJ hoped once they were with the rest of the team she would perk up a bit.

They parked the the lot and climbed out, Hotch and the boys were already there. Jack waved excitedly as he saw them and ran over, hugging JJ's legs and pulling Henry into a crushing hug which the younger boy reciprocated. Jack paused as he noticed Emily. "Hi, I'm Jack, who're you?"

"Emily." She said helping JJ pull bags out of the car.

"Hi! I'm Jack and this is my friend Reid. He's sleeping over for a while cause his parents are away for work."

"Emily's parents are on vacation." Henry said, happy to be able to supply his own information.

"Cool, wanna play hide and go seek?"

"Yeah!" Henry said, running along past Reid.

"No thank you." Emily said and struggled to carry the bag of food over to the bench Hotch and Rossi were sitting at.

"I'm tired." Reid offered up. "Maybe later." He followed along behind Emily, happy to have Henry there to play with the very energetic Jack. JJ frowned at both of them, but smiled as she saw Garcia and Morgan walking over to her. The three of them followed the kids over to the rest of their team. Hotch and Rossi had picked the largest bench, under a tree and which had a good sight of the entire park. Emily and Reid were already sitting down, Emily saying hello to Rossi and Hotch as JJ, Garcia and Morgan approached them.

"Hey squirts." Morgan said with a grin as he clapped his hands onto Emily and Reid's backs. Both of them winced and Garcia slapped him.

"Morgan! They're little, you're gonna hurt them!"

"Oh, crap, sorry."

"I'm fine." Emily insisted.

"Yeah me too." Reid said quickly, but both of them rubbed their shoulders when they thought no one was looking.

"So gumdrops, why don't you go play with the boys?" Garcia asked after they had all settled down into their seats.

"Because I was under the impression this was simply a picnic lunch and I'm not actually six." Emily said through gritted teeth.

"I already played with Jack, I'm throughly exhausted." Reid said with a huff. "I've had to 'play' as you put it all morning. Hotch, he is extremely energetic." Reid dropped his head into his arms and closed his eyes. Along with being very energetic, Jack also woke up rather early. JJ smiled and ruffled his hair. He didn't even have the energy to swat her hand away.

"Well, I'm starving." Rossi stated, drawing the attention away from Emily and Reid. Emily looked up at him and he winked, causing her to smile a little. "Let's dig in."

"Jack! Henry! Come eat!" Hotch called out. Both boys ran over and accepted sandwiches before running back to the slide with them.

"Parks are great places aren't they?" Garcia said giving Emily and Reid a look. "So much fun for kids...and families."

Emily and Reid both ignored her and put much more focus on their food than was needed.

Morgan chuckled at their faces, stuffed another bite of a sandwich in his mouth and stood up. "I'm bored, I'm gonna go chase the munchkins."

"Please remember that they just ate." JJ asked Morgan. He nodded and took off, yelling like a maniac. Jack and Henry screamed with delight and ran in the opposite direction as fast as their little legs would take them. Garcia started to say something again, but JJ flicked her on the arm. Convincing them to have fun was one thing, annoying the crap out of them was another.

Reid was tired but he had to admit, watching Henry and Jack squealing happily with Morgan looked like a lot of fun. He glanced to his side and saw that Emily was watching them with the same excited intensity. He inched closer to her and poked her leg. She turned and glared at him, for a second Reid thought she would smack him – everything seemed to bother her much more now that she was little – instead her look softened and she gave him a sheepish smile. Reid nodded his head forward, motioning to the swings and Emily grinned. She looked around at Rossi, Hotch, JJ and Garcia, but they all seemed to be invested in their own conversations. Emily swung her legs out from under the bench and grabbed Reid's hand, pulling him along behind her. Thankfully, she was much more gentle than Jack and he kept up.

The two of them got on swings beside each other and kicked off. Or, Emily kicked off easily, Reid's legs wouldn't reach the ground and he just began kicking wildly in frustration. Emily laughed and hoped off her swing, standing behind him and stilling his body. "Reid, relax, I'll push you." She said, pulling the swing back with some difficulty due to her small size and pushed him forward.

"I can pump myself." Reid insisted.

"Good, cause I won't keep pushing you, I want to swing myself." Emily said, but Reid could hear the smile in her voice. She pushed him again and again, getting him started and then let him pump on his own. She went back to her own swing, and caught up with Reid quickly.

"Emily?" He asked.

"Hum?"

"Do you...I mean..I keep wanting..." He didn't quite want to admit all the weird things that had been going on since he was turned four, but he wanted to talk to the brunette. He figured if anyone would understand, she would. "Do feel like a real kid a little bit?" He asked.

Emily looked across at him, her swing coming to a slow stop. "Yeah a little, you?"

"Yeah, you know how I don't really like the dark?" He asked, not meeting Emily's eye. He saw her nod out of the corner of his eyes. "Well, now I _really _don't like it. And, when Jack makes me play with him, sometimes, I forget I'm an adult and I have a lot of fun. Also...well, stuff like that."

"Me too." Emily whispered. "I...its weird. JJ keeps trying to get me to act like a kid."

"Hotch is doing that too, but I'll bet he is a little more subtle than JJ, or at least Garcia." Reid grinned as Emily laughed lightly. "Do you think...do think maybe they're right?" Reid whispered. Emily stopped her swing completely and looked at Reid. "I mean...I know my mother loves me, and she tried but..." Emily nodded and he trailed off. "And my dad well...we're stuck like this, at least for a while. It might be kinda nice."

"But don't you think it will be embarrassing once we're back to normal? If we act like kids and let them take care of us?" Emily asked. Reid could hear the hurt in her voice, he knew she wanted to do this as much as he did.

"It might be a little weird at first, but...you guys are my family I already know that. And, I know we're yours too Emily so don't try to deny it. I think it will be fine. I...well I hope it will."

Emily didn't say anything, she kicked her legs forward and swung back and forth a couple of times before finally looking to Reid. "Okay, deal." She said, nodding her head.

"So, how does it work?" Reid asked.

"What! Reid, it was your idea."

"I know but..."

"Just, do what you want. If you get some weird instinct to do something you know is childish don't ignore it just do it I guess." Emily said with a shrug.

"What if I want to hug Hotch?" Reid whispered so softly Emily almost thought she hadn't heard him. She smiled at the little boy.

"Then hug Hotch. I don't think he'll mind."

Reid's swing had long since stopped, he tried to get it going again but couldn't. Emily hoped down again and began to give him a push. "Are you gonna hug JJ?" He asked.

"Sure, I'll hug JJ if you want."

"No, if _you _want!" Reid insisted. "That was your rule, do something if you want it."

"Its not a rule Reid." Emily sighed.

"It is! I'm making it one."

"Fine." Emily gave Reid one hard push and he went flying into the air with a scream.

"EMILY!" He yelled. "You can't do that!"

"Sorry." Emily got back on her own swing as Jack, Henry and Morgan came over to them. Jack got onto the swing on the other side of Emily, and Morgan helped Henry into one of the baby swings.

"Hey squirts." Morgan greeted them. Emily and Reid shared a look and both smiled before pumping their legs into the air. They were gonna enjoy themselves.


	5. Chapter 5

Morgan refrained from teasing Emily and Reid while Henry and Jack were around. After a little while, Reid got sick of swinging. It had never been his favorite activity as a child. Emily and Jack were engaged in some sort of competition to see who could swing the highest while Morgan was busy pushing Henry. Reid slipped away easily. He saw JJ and Garcia heading over to the swings, so he went the opposite way, climbing up onto the playground and crawling into one of the tunnels. He enjoyed the few moments alone, wishing he had one of the books they had picked up from the library. He lay down, remembering hiding from playground bullies in tunnels like these. Tired from his morning with Jack, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Jack dared Emily to jump off the swings further than him. Grinning, the little girl kicked her legs forward and leapt into the air. Not used to being smaller than usual, she overcompensated a little bit and landed hard on her ankle. It surprised her so much that she screamed out in pain.

"Emily!" JJ yelled, running over to her. Emily tried very hard to suppress tears, but they were coming whether she wanted them to or not. A fleeting thought of embarrassment crossed her mind, but her ankle hurt too much to care. Suddenly, she was surrounded. JJ, Garcia, Rossi and Hotch all hovered above her and Morgan and the boys were close behind. "Sweetie, let me see it." JJ said, trying to pull Emily's little hands away from her ankle.

"No! It hurts! Don't touch it!" Emily cried.

"Okay honey just let me look at it."

Emily looked up at the worried faces of her team and felt incredibly small. Her ankle hurt and she felt stupid. Needing to not be the center of attention, and taking a page from Reid, she threw herself into JJ's arms and clung tight. "It hurts." She cried.

JJ rubbed her back and picked her up. "I know sweetie, lets take you to the hospital to check it out. Make sure its not broken."

"Okay." Emily moaned.

JJ looked up at her friends in shock. The fact that Emily was willingly going to the hospital, was proof enough she was hurt. "Here, JJ and Morgan take her to the hospital, we'll meet you guys there."

"No!" Emily yelled.

"Okay, the rest of us will hang here until you're done." Hotch corrected. Emily nodded and hid her face in JJ's neck. Morgan passed Henry off to Hotch and took off behind JJ, jumping into the front seat while JJ climbed in the back with Emily, who refused to let go of the blonde.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked as he looked around at the remaining group.

* * *

><p>JJ and Morgan stood around Emily while the doctor examined her ankle. Emily was clutching JJ's hand tightly and still had tears in her eyes, but the Prentiss bravado had gone up and she clenched her teeth and refused to let new tears fall.<p>

"You've got a brave little girl here Mom." The doctor said to JJ with a smile.

"Thanks." JJ said a little awkwardly. JJ and Morgan had brought her into the ER and didn't bother trying to explain anything other than she landed on her ankle. "Is it broken?" She asked.

"No, its just a sprain. I'll wrap it, and you should take her home and ice it, keep it elevated. She can take a baby aspirin if the pain bothers her too much. Ice it tomorrow in the morning and the afternoon, and she should be fine in a couple of days. If the pain persists, or it swells too much you're welcome to bring her back in."

"Thank you." Morgan said shaking her hand. The doctor smiled and tapped Emily on the nose. Emily glared at her, but kept her mouth shut while she wrapped her ankle. While JJ sighed her discharge papers Morgan picked Emily up and waited in the hall. "You good Prentiss?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied shortly.

"Hey now Princess, don't be like that. You got hurt, it happens, no big deal."

Emily didn't meet his eyes but nodded. The medicine the doctor had given her for the pain was making her tired. She wrapped her arms around Morgan's neck and dropped her head to his shoulder, closing her eyes. Morgan chuckled lightly and gave her back a light pat. JJ walked up to them and grinned, mouthing, 'is she asleep?'. Morgan turned around so JJ could check and she nodded. The two of them headed back to the car. JJ called Hotch and informed him of what happened. Hotch told her to head on home and that he would keep Henry for the rest of the day, figuring it would be easier for Emily to get some rest; and knowing how Emily dealt with being hurt.

Morgan carried a sleeping Emily up to JJ's guest bedroom and tucked her in. Grinning at the situation; if Emily had been awake, she probably would have punched him. He headed back downstairs and met JJ.

"She all set?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, out cold."

"Good. You don't have to hang here with me, go back, enjoy yourself."

"I'm good." He said, plopping down next to JJ on the couch. She smiled at him leaned back into the couch. "She's really acting like a kid." He said a moment or two later. "I man, she was _clinging _to you. I've never seen Prentiss cling to anything let alone a person."

"I see it as a good thing." JJ said firmly. "She needs to let people take care of her. Maybe if she was able to before, we would have known about Doyle earlier."

Morgan nodded, seeing what JJ was getting at. "Yeah, I'm just saying."

"I know Derek, but you can't make her feel embarrassed about it, no more teasing." JJ said slapping him lightly.

"Oh come on now, I need to be able to tease them a little."

JJ kicked him but had a smile on her face. "Not in my house." She warned.

"Okay, I get it mama bear will take my head off, but I am taking photos and when they are back to normal, all bets are off."

"Deal." JJ smirked.

* * *

><p>Reid heard yelling. He opened his eyes and was confused as to why he was in a yellow plastic tunnel. Lots of people were yelling. They were yelling <em>his<em> name. Reid sat up and crawled to the end of the tunnel. "What?" He yelled back.

"Reid!" Garcia yelled in relief. "I found him!" The bubbly blonde ran over to him and hit his arm.

"Ow! Garcia! That hurt!" Reid yelped rubbing his arm. "Hotch! Garcia hit me!" He accused.

"We thought you were kidnaped or lost, you jerk, you were in a stupid plastic tunnel!" Garcia yelled back.

"I fell asleep, what are you talking about?" Reid asked as he crawled all the way out of the tunnel. Rossi had rounded up Jack and Henry and Hotch was walking over to Garcia and Reid quickly. Reid didn't see Emily, JJ or Morgan anywhere.

"Reid." Hotch sighed in relief. "Where..." He looked around, saw Reid's messy hair, the sleep still in his eyes and put two and two together. "You fell asleep." He answered himself. "We didn't know where you were, we got worried." He explained. Reid nodded, sorry that he had worried anyone. Garcia pulled him roughly onto her lap and hugged him tightly from behind.

"You little jerk! I was scarred." She said with a pout.

"Garcia!" Reid protested, trying to wriggle his way out of her grasp. "Hotch!" He squeaked. "Make her let me go!"

"Garcia, he's clearly okay let's let him breathe." Hotch said calmly. Grumbling, Garcia loosened her grip and Reid leapt out of her lap. "Okay, we're all fine now, let's play for a little while before we head back."

"Where's everyone else?" Reid asked as he smoothed his cardigan down.

"Emily got hurt and JJ and Derek took her to the hospital." Jack informed him as he and Henry walked over to Reid.

"Emily's hurt? What happened? Where is she? Is she going to be alright?" Reid asked, spitting out questions quickly. He went to run to the cars, but Hotch caught him and held him in place.

"Reid, she's fine. JJ just called me, she sprained her ankle, JJ and Morgan are with her, she's taking a nap, she'll be good as new in a few days." He said calmly. Reid relaxed.

"Oh, okay. I don't really feel like playing though, can I just read my book till we leave?"

"Sure." Hotch said with a laugh. Reid ran back over to the bench, Rossi right behind him. He wasn't exactly the playing type unless it was forced or limited to approximately ten minutes. He had already spent longer than that looking for Reid and keeping Jack and Henry in his sight, he was done. Reid read his book, Rossi flipped through one of his others, got bored and decided to people watch. Hotch and Garcia played with Jack and Henry for about another hour before everyone was thoroughly tired and decided to go home. They piled into their respective cars and bid each other a goodnight. Hotch didn't have a third car seat, so he put Jack in the middle and buckled Reid and Henry – the two smaller children – into the seats he had. He had called JJ and told her that he would keep Henry for dinner and drop him off before bedtime. "Boys, don't run." Hotch scolded as the three of them took off to go wash their hands. Hotch surveyed his fridge and realized there wasn't much to eat. Sighing, he pulled out frozen chicken nuggets and french fries and popped them into the oven. Pulling out some frozen vegetables, he poured them into a pot and steamed them. He could hear the boys playing in the living room and smiled as Reid walked up to him. "Hey Reid, want to stir the pot?"

"Sure." Reid dragged a chair over to the stove and climbed up, taking the spoon from Hotch. "Is she really okay?" Reid whispered after a minute.

Hotch smiled. "Yeah Reid, its just a sprain, she's gonna be a little sore but fine."

"I'm sorry if I worried you guys, I just wanted a couple of minutes to myself. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay Reid. I get it, just maybe let me know next time? I'm not gonna say you can't be alone, just give me a heads up?"

"Sure." Reid smiled. Thank god he was staying with Hotch and not Morgan or Rossi.

Hotch pulled out the boys dinner and told Reid to go get Jack and Henry. The four of them had a loud, fun dinner that Reid couldn't ever remember having before. His dinners had always been poorly made by either his mother or himself. Mostly, he ate alone as a child and as an adult. He found that having a big, fun dinner with weird finger food was actually quite fun.

After dinner, Morgan showed up to get Henry, but he stayed to hang out with them for a little while. Reid thought he was going to hate having Morgan be there, that he would tease him or something, but he didn't and for that, Reid was immensely grateful. Once Morgan left, Reid realized he was exhausted and told Hotch he was going to bed. Jack was out cold instantly. Reid pulled out a book light Hotch had gotten him earlier at the library. He didn't want to lose his skills as a profiler because of his weird childhood brain, so he diligently read an entire book before falling asleep. He was about to start another one when Hotch walked in and told him to call it a night. Sheepishly, Reid put the book away and closed his eyes. He was out before he even knew it.

* * *

><p>Emily woke up in pain. It took her a minute to remember what had happened. She realized she desperately needed to go to the bathroom. Swinging her legs around off the bed, she stepped down and tried to hop down the hall. She made it out of the bedroom and about three steps down the hall before she fell. Crying out in pain and surprise she clutched her ankle and sobbed.<p>

"Em?" JJ appeared at the top of the stairs and ran over to her, checking for new injuries. "Sweetie." She sighed, lightly pushing Emily's hair out of her face. "Why didn't you call for me?"

"I...have...to...pee." Emily sobbed. "It hurts."

"I know, come on." JJ moved to pick her up and Emily's first instinct was to push the blonde away and tell her she could do it herself; but she remembered Reid's conversation from earlier and let JJ take care of her. The blonde set her down on the edge of the bathtub and dug out the baby aspirin. Getting a glass of water, she handed it to Emily and watched as she took it.

"JJ, I really have to..." Emily motioned to the toilet.

"I'll be right outside. Don't try to walk by yourself." JJ said firmly. Emily nodded and gave JJ a light push out, causing the blonde to smile. Emily quickly relieved herself and washed her hands. As promised, JJ was waiting right outside the door. The blonde paused a moment, probably trying to gauge Emily's mood, then held her arms out. Emily sighed but, her foot hurt, she was grumpy, and really she just wanted to be held. Emily hopped forward and let JJ pick her up, wrapping her arms around JJ's neck.

"Where's Henry?" Emily asked.

"Having dinner with Hotch and the boys, Morgan went to get him, they'll be back in a little bit."

For some reason, Emily was really grateful for that fact. Letting JJ take care of her was one thing, of all her friends, JJ had seen her the most vulnerable, JJ she could handle, Morgan...

"Are you hungry?" JJ asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"No." Emily said, flopping her head down on JJ's shoulder.

"Em, you should eat something, the doctor said it's important with the medicine."

"Fine, but can we sit on the couch?"

JJ smirked. "Yes we can do that." She gently set Emily down on the couch, setting her foot up on a pillow with an ice pack and went off in search of some dinner for the both of them. "What're you in the mood for?" She asked.

"I don't care Jayje, I'm not really hungry."

JJ sighed and pulled out some bread, peanut butter and jelly. Sandwiches it was. She made two and walked back over to the couch where Emily had turned on the tv. JJ bit back a small laugh when she recognized the show Emily and Reid both watched – _Doctor Who_. They had both tried to get the rest of the team to watch it on more than one occasion. She set down Emily's plate in front of her and sat down next to the brunette. Emily scooted closer to JJ and leaned her head on the blonde's shoulder. JJ smiled and ate her sandwich. Emily was quiet through the first half of the episode, and hadn't touched her sandwich once.

"Em, you gotta eat something." JJ prodded.

Emily sighed and leaned forward, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite. Turning to JJ and chewing loudly. "'Ahppy?" She asked with her mouth full.

"Very." JJ smiled and took the ice pack off Emily's foot, taking it and her dish back over to the sink. Hearing the front door, she went to meet Morgan and Henry. "Hey." She greeted him. Henry was sound asleep in Morgan's arms. "Thanks Derek." She said taking Henry from him.

"No prob, how's the patient?"

"Oh the couch, I'm gonna go put him to bed, you can hang with her for a bit if you want. Just...she's tired and in pain and very much like a kid right now." JJ warned.

"I got it the first time, I won't tease her." Morgan said with his hands up. JJ smiled and walked upstairs. Morgan headed into the living room. "Hey Princess, how's the foot?"

"Sucks, but fine." Emily shrugged as Morgan sat down next to her. He lifted up her pant leg and inspected the injury.

"Not swelling, that's a good sign."

"Just iced it."

The two of them watched tv quietly for a while until JJ came back downstairs. "He's asleep. Thanks again for getting him Derek."

"No prob Jayje."

Emily yawned and stopped herself from leaning into Morgan. JJ noticed and walked over to him, pulling his arm up and yanking him off the couch. "Thanks, have a good night."

"You kicking me out?" He asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Yep, see ya tomorrow, have a good night." JJ closed the door on him and walked back over to the couch.

"Rude!" Morgan yelled through the door.

"Why is he yelling?" Emily asked, her eyes having never left the tv.

"Cause he's a dork, you want to watch more or head up to bed?"

Emily bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to be alone. She liked having JJ take care of her. When she broke her arm when she was little, her mother hadn't even been in the same country. She certainly didn't hang out and watch tv with her. Emily wanted to stay up, but she was tired again already. "Umm...bed I guess." She whispered.

JJ seemed to see right through Emily, and her reluctance. She made a snap decision. "Well, since your hurt I think maybe you should bunk with me. That way if you need to get up to go to the bathroom, or your foot hurts, you don't have to try to hobble around in the dark and get yourself hurt even more. Plus, I've got a tv in my room."

"Do I have a choice?" Emily asked.

"Nope." JJ said with a smirk. Emily grinned to herself, happy that JJ hadn't really given her an out. A sleepover sounded great.

"Okay." Emily said. JJ walked over and lifted Emily up, keeping her leg elevated and heading up the stairs. The two of them climbed into bed and snuggled up under the covers. JJ turned the tv on and they settled on a romantic comedy. "JJ?" Emily asked when she was half asleep.

"Hum?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything."

JJ looked down at Emily and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "No problem Em." She whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for all your reviews so far, to answer a few questions, there won't be any pairings romantically, but as you can sort of see, I'm kind of focusing on Reid/Hotch and JJ/Emily. To me I've always thought Reid needed a dad and Emily needed a mom. This is going to be the start of them acting more like children. This one is a very short, but I should have another up sometime Saturday (maybe even later today?) I hope you guys continue to enjoy:) **

Reid didn't know what had woken him up. He could have sworn he had heard something. Going on natural instincts from his childhood, he got up to find his mother. She would sometimes wake in the night parodied and fearful. Reid was usually able to talk her down. Pushing his curly hair out of his face he stumbled down the dark hall, tripping into a small magazine stand. The crash was louder than he had thought and next thing he knew Hotch was in front of him.

"Reid? Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" Hotch asked, bending down and surveying Reid as best he could in the dark.

"Huh? Umm...no I thought...never mind."

Hotch took Reid's hand and led him to the bathroom, he had made sure to leave the light on in case Reid woke up in the night. That way he would have some extra light. Jack must have gotten up and gone and turned the light off by accident. Hotch bent down and saw a bruise forming on Reid's elbow. "Reid? Did you have a nightmare?" He asked again.

Reid began to shake his head but stopped himself. He and Emily had promised to just follow their instincts, letting Hotch take care of him was part of that. "I think so. I can't really remember but I think it had something to do with my mother. She used to get frightened at night sometimes. I would go sleep in her room so she wouldn't be alone."

Hotch smiled. "You're a good son Reid."

Sheepishly Reid looked down at his feet. He kicked them back and forth, listening to the squeaking sound as his bare foot hit the tile. "Hotch?" He whispered.

"What?"

"Can we pull the air mattress into your room?" Reid refused to look Hotch in the eye. The older man smiled as Reid yawned deeply and watching Reid waver in place, he picked him up.

"Sure Reid." He said with a light laugh as the little boy's head slammed down onto his shoulder with another yawn. Hotch carried Reid into his room, set him gently down on his bed and went to get the mattress. Jack stirred at the noise but after a kiss from Hotch he was out again. Hotch quietly dragged the mattress down the hall and set it up at the foot of his bed. Lifting the already asleep Reid off of his bed, he set him down in the mattress and tucked him in.

* * *

><p>Emily had clearly given over to her childlike state. Being in pain and immobile caused the little brunette girl to be very clingy. On top of her sprain, Emily had spiked a fever – unrelated to her foot injury according to the doctor – and she was not happy about it. She didn't want JJ out of her sight, twice when the blonde had walked out of the room to go to the bathroom or something, Emily had tried to hobble after her; falling and crying all over again. Rather than get Henry sick too, Will had come up and taken him down to New Orleans for a couple of days. JJ was tired, but she didn't mind taking care of Emily. As long as the brunette had JJ in her sight, she was mostly fine. Her only requests were water, movies, and hugs. JJ subtly asked Emily how her parents had taken care of her when she was sick as a kid and had learned they steered clear. Leaving maids and nurses to administer medicine, and sent to her room to sleep.<p>

It hurt JJ to hear Emily describe it so casually, not used to anything else. JJ's mother had doted on her when she was sick, always renting movies and cuddling up with her on the couch. Emily deserved to have that too, not to have to worry about anything but letting her body heal.

"JJ?" Emily croaked from the couch.

"I'm right here Em, just getting your medicine." JJ called from the kitchen. She smiled as she saw Emily snuggle deeper under the covers. Her foot was much better, it still bothered her, but she could walk lightly on it. JJ had just gotten Emily to eat a little bit of chicken noodle soup and had a feeling she would crash shortly after she gave her the medicine. "Here sweetie, take this." JJ said, holding out the children's tylenol.

Emily grimaced and pulled the blanket up over her head. "It tastes horrible!" She yelled, her voice muffled from the blanket.

"That's why I've got a spoonful of chocolate ice cream ready and waiting. It will cool your throat down too." JJ said with a smile. That had been a trick of her mother's whenever administering bad tasting medication. It worked wonders with Henry.

Emily's head peeped out from under the blanket and eyed JJ suspiciously. Seeing the ice cream, she sighed dramatically, sat up and downed the tylenol like she would a shot if they were in a bar. JJ laughed as she recognized the grimace at the taste and quickly passed over the spoon of ice cream. Emily happily shoved it into her mouth, then moaned at the cold. JJ reached up and felt her forehead, frowning at the heat radiating from it. Her fever had been persistent for almost two days now, if it didn't go down by tonight, JJ was taking her back to the doctor's in the morning. Initially, she had been afraid that this might be some side effect from the chemicals she and Reid had been injected with, but after talking to Hotch, she found out Reid wasn't showing any of the same symptoms.

Emily yawned and snuggled into JJ's side, no longer embarrassed or too sick to care. JJ ran her fingers through the black hair as they watched a marathon of _The Office_ reruns. By the end of the second episode, JJ could tell Emily was asleep. She was debating whether or not to stay where they were and let Emily nap, or to put the girl into bed. Emily shifted in her sleep and flung an arm over JJ making the decision for her. It would be easier just to stay where they were. Closing her own eyes, JJ decided to take advantage of the down time. She didn't mind taking care of Emily at all, but she would be lying if she said it wasn't tiring.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry this wasn't up earlier in the day, I got a little busier than I thought I would. Thank you for all your reviews, hope you continue to enjoy:)**

Emily woke up first. She found herself tangled into JJ on the couch, in a very similar position she had seen JJ and Henry in before. It made her smile. She wasn't sure why JJ would want to sleep holding her like that, but it comforted her. She really needed to get up and use the bathroom, but she wasn't sure she could untangle her body without waking JJ, and walking on her foot still hurt a little. JJ looked so peaceful Emily didn't want to disturb her. She knew that the blonde had been working hard taking care of her, and Emily was doing her best not to ask for anything. When she was sick, it annoyed her mother to no end. She would be banished to her room until she was in full health again.

Emily had always tried to not ask for a single thing while she was ill; thinking her mother would consider her even more of a bother. It was hard to bring herself to ask anything of JJ. Luckily, the blonde had impeccable instincts and seemed to know what Emily needed without the brunette having to ask for it. For that, Emily was grateful.

As her bladder practically screamed at her, the little girl lifted JJ's arm slowly and tried to slip out of her grasp. Instinctually, JJ's grip tightened and she pulled Emily closer to her. Emily groaned. She would have to wake the blonde up if she wanted to move. "JJ?" Emily asked softly. "JJ?" Emily shook her arm lightly and the blonde grunted a little. "JJ? Wake up."

"Hum?" JJ murmured, her eyes remaining closed.

"I gotta use the bathroom."

"Hum?"

Emily sighed, her childlike state not giving her much patience. She pinched JJ's arm. "I gotta pee! Let me up!"

JJ's eyes opened and she looked down at Emily. "You pinched me." She stated a little shocked. Emily immediately felt embarrassed.

"Sorry." She apologized, tucking her face into JJ's stomach sheepishly. "I need to use the bathroom." She insisted.

"Okay fine." JJ said with a light laugh. She lifted Emily up and helped her hobble over to the restroom. Emily quickly relived herself then splashed some water on her face. She looked into the mirror. Seeing herself as a child again was beyond weird. She had to use Henry's step stool to be able to reach the sink without putting too much pressure on her foot. Emily hadn't really looked at herself much in the last few days. She had been a little afraid to, not sure of how it would feel. She took a good look at herself. Same jet black hair, same length, coming just around her shoulders, straight as ever. Her skin was still pale, eyes still dark, she looked the same, just little. She found that the littleness suited how she felt. Even back when she _was_ a child, she had never really felt _little_. Young maybe, but not little like something that needed to be taken care off. No one had ever done it much so she had learned very quickly how to do it herself and never thought twice about it. Would she have liked to have her mother cuddle with her? Dance with her? Just be silly? Yes. But she never once thought it would happen, or even allowed herself to really, truly want it. Now, she felt incredibly little and vulnerable, but for the first time since she came to the BAU, she felt perfectly safe. She had no doubts that whatever happened, JJ, Hotch, the team would take care of her. Looking into the mirror at herself, she grinned and hopped back out to the kitchen to find JJ.

"Hey." The blonde smiled. "Come here, let me feel your forehead." She motioned for Emily to come over to her. Gently she pressed the palm of her hand to Emily's forehead. For some reason, this felt incredibly intimate and maternal and it almost caused Emily to cry. Realizing how insane that would make her look she quickly choked back her tears before JJ could notice. "Feels much better." JJ said, looking relieved. "Hop up I'll make you some toast." She stuck a thermometer into Emily's mouth and poured herself a cup of coffee. Emily waited about a minute – the annoying device held under her tongue – before pulling it out herself.

"99.2!" She announced. "I'm better."

JJ turned around and raised her eyebrows at the brunette, taking the device and checking it herself. "Normal is 98.6." She said with a frown. "But this is much better than yesterday."

"We're gonna stay home again today aren't we?" Emily asked flopping her head down into her hands. Three days of being sick and hurt and stuck in the house was driving her nuts. She would be lying if she didn't like having time with JJ all to herself, but she was ready to get out of the house for a bit.

JJ grinned at Emily and set some peanut butter toast in front of the brunette. "Maybe if it goes down a bit more by this afternoon we'll go for a walk or something tonight."

"I'd like that." Emily admitted with a small smile. JJ nodded to her food and Emily reluctantly picked it up and took a small bite. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately. Being sick always did that to her. "Is Henry coming back now that I'm better?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Will said he'd bring him up on Saturday. They're having a great time."

"That's good, I fell really bad that you have vacation and I got sick."

"Don't Emily." JJ insisted firmly. "You can't help being sick and Henry loves being with Will, I miss him, but he'll be back in two days. I've talked to him everyday, you have nothing to feel bad about."

Emily ducked her head and stared at her toast. "My mom always seemed mad at me when I got sick. Like it was a sign of weakness or something, or like I did it on purpose to get attention." She admitted so quietly she wasn't sure if JJ had heard her or not. She couldn't bring herself to meet her eyes to check.

The next thing Emily knew, she was being lifted out of her seat and pulled onto JJ's lap. The blonde's strong arms held her tightly. "I'm sorry." JJ whispered, placing a kiss on Emily's temple. "I wish I could change it, and I'm sorry." She didn't say anything else, and Emily was glad. They just sat there, holding onto each other in silence. Finally, JJ spoke up again. "You know we all love you right?" JJ asked.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, I know. I was a little afraid once you guys found out about Doyle and everything that you might not...but, I know."

"You're not a bother, you're not in the way, everyone wants you here." JJ said fiercely.

Emily turned her body in JJ's lap so she could look at JJ's face. She didn't have the words to say how much that meant to her so she just looked at JJ. The blonde had tears in her eyes. Emily had never felt more loved in her life. She wrapped her arms around JJ's neck and clung tightly, happier than she could remember being in a long time.

* * *

><p>Reid lifted the telephone to his ear and dialed JJ's number. Hearing the blonde pick up the phone, he smiled and talked to her for a few minutes before asking for Emily.<p>

"Hi Reid." Emily voice greeted him. She sounded better, cheerful even, Reid sighed with relief. For some weird reason, he had had a nightmare about her getting so sick she was coughing up blood and dying. Hotch told him it was because he was worrying too much.

"How are you? What's your body temperature?"

"It's creepy that you want to know that, but 99.0." She sounded proud. "It went down, JJ says I can go for a walk tonight, want to come?"

"Yeah!" Reid felt a desperate need to see her and make sure she was okay for himself. He wanted to inspect her foot. "But 98.6 is the temperature you want to strive for, you're still not healthy."

"Reid..." Emily groaned. "I'm fine." She insisted, he could detect the annoyance in her voice.

"Sorry, I miss you." He admitted. In the last few days, he had felt like more of a child than when he _was_ a child. Admitting things like missing his friends, loving them, wanting to spend time with them, didn't embarrass him anymore.

"Dork." Emily said, but he could hear the grin in her voice. "How's Hotch?"

"Good! I taught him how to play chess. He's a worse student than Jack, but he's getting the hang of it."

"I'd like to see that." Emily laughed.

"Jack wants to go swimming tomorrow, I'm not exactly an expert swimmer, but I've reluctantly agreed. Want to join us? If JJ says its okay."

"JJ doesn't have to say its okay!" Emily yelled immediately, then her voice softened. "But I'll ask. Are Morgan and Garcia coming?"

"Yeah. Morgan said he'd teach me how to dive. Can you?"

"Of course I can, I'm an excellent swimmer." Emily boasted.

"Well fine. See you tonight." Reid said, hanging up as Jack ran into the room.

"Come on Reid! You're _Doctor Who_ show is on!" He yelled, grabbing Reid and yanking him into the living room. Hotch had not been thrilled with the fact that Reid had gotten Jack into _Doctor Who_. They had been watching it almost religiously the last few days as soon as Jack got back from school. Jack was under the impression that Reid was going to preschool during the day when really he was home with Hotch, reading mostly. He had read seventeen different books in the last three days. Hotch had actually sat there and watched as he read a four hundred page novel in about twenty minutes. Reid hadn't even noticed him and when he looked up and saw his bosses baffled and smiling face he was utterly confused.

"What?" He asked.

Hotch simply shook his head, sipped his coffee and went into the other room, leaving Reid to it. The little boy had shrugged and picked up another novel.

He found that he liked living with Hotch and Jack. After living alone for so much of his life, roommates were nice; especially around dinnertime. That was his favorite. When Jack came home and the three of them sat at the table talking excitedly about their days. Jack always was fascinated with whatever Reid told him about what he had read, and Reid found that he was actually interesting in the comings and goings of first grade. Watching Hotch and Jack interact in the privacy of their own home was something Reid loved. He would just sit quietly and watch them sometimes. Hotch was this mysterious, stoic, closed off, brave man. Reid trusted him with his life, but seeing him loving and goofing off and hugging his son made Reid respect him even more.

Reid was thrilled to see Emily and JJ. He ran at the brunette and tackle hugged her, surprised at how much he had missed her. She yelled and grabbed her foot.

"Sorry!" Reid apologized, seeing that he had caused her to put too much pressure on it.

"It's okay." She insisted, grimacing at the pain. He could tell he had hurt her and he began to cry. "Reid, I'm fine!" Emily tried to convince him. It didn't work. Hotch came up and picked him up, setting him up onto his shoulders. Reid was relieved. He was better at allowing himself to just act like a kid, but it did embarrass him how easily he cried now. No one made a big deal about it. Hotch walked with Reid on his shoulders with Jack skipping along ahead of them. Emily held JJ's hand for support, she could walk, but the help made her able to do it for longer.

They decided to get some ice cream. The woman at the counter mistook them all for a family, and Reid kind of liked the idea. Hotch and JJ as parents, Jack and Emily as siblings, it was a nice thought. No one bothered to correct her, it would have been too complicated. Reid could tell Emily's foot was bothering her. She sat down on JJ's lap, yawning and licking her ice cream cone. Jack shoveled his in as quickly as he could and gave himself a brain freeze. He ran around yelling trying to get it to go away, causing Reid and Emily to giggle at him. Reid took his time with his ice cream, so much that he needed JJ to get him a bowl to put the cone in as it melted. He wanted to enjoy it. This was all so normal, a family taking a walk and going out for ice cream, but nothing about their situation was normal. Reid didn't care, these people _were_ his family, he was going to just enjoy it.

After a while, they had all finished and began walking home, Reid held Emily's hand and noticed her beginning to limp much more than she had on the way out. She was too prideful to say anything. Reid released her hand and tugged on Hotch's shirt, pointing to Emily. He got the message and lifted the reluctant brunette onto his back.

"Thank you." JJ bent down and whispered in his ear.

He grinned up at her. He had missed JJ too. He couldn't wait to go swimming with everyone tomorrow. Going from seeing these people every single day, almost all day long, to not seeing them for almost three whole days was a bit of a shock to the system.

* * *

><p>JJ hadn't gone swimming in she couldn't remember how long. Garcia had been all too happy to buy swimsuits for Emily and Reid and the brunette was thoroughly annoyed with the bright pink frilliness of hers. Somehow, Garcia had found swim trunks with little books on them for Reid, it was possibly the most adorable thing JJ had ever seen. Garcia forced the two of them to stand and get a picture taken before they got to the pool.<p>

Reid looked nervous, Jack looked excited, and Emily looked indifferent to the whole situation. When they got to the pool, they found that they had it mostly to themselves. Morgan ripped off his shirt, let out a whoop and leapt into the pool, Jack right behind him. Rossi lowered himself slowly into the shallow end and began swimming laps, ignoring them both. Garcia slipped down into the water and splashed Morgan with a grin. He yelled and splashed her back as she squealed with laughter. Jack climbed out of the pool and made sure Hotch was watching as he practiced his dives into the water. JJ saw Reid watching him in awe. She shimmied out of her clothes and took Emily's hand, pulling the little girl along with her to the edge of the pool.

"Ready?" She asked. Emily shook her head. JJ sat down, letting her legs fall into the water and lowering her voice. "Em? What's wrong? Are you not feeling up to it? Cause you don't have to go in."

"No I want to." She insisted quickly, but bit her lip and watched Morgan and Garcia.

"What is it?"

"I...I haven't...nothing." Emily insisted. JJ was about to prod her again when Emily broke into a grin and threw herself into the pool, splashing JJ.

"Emily!" JJ yelled happily. The brunette popped her head up and laughed, splashing the blonde and daring her to come get her. JJ shook her head and dove into the pool, quickly swimming over and grabbing Emily as she squealed. Morgan caught sight of them and swam over, lifting Emily into the air and throwing her. As she came up for air, the grin on her face was wider than JJ had ever seen.

"Do it again!" She yelled and paddled over to Morgan, Jack right behind her. Morgan took turns chucking the both of them into the air while Garcia and JJ lightly swam around talking as they watched them.

Reid was sitting next to Hotch on one of the benches, watching the other two kids longingly. "Children drown every single day." He began.

Hotch cut him off. "Don't give me statistics Reid." He insisted. "I won't let go, not unless you want me to and you can have floaties."

"Those are for babies." Reid muttered angrily.

"They are for people who don't know how to swim." Hotch corrected. "They're for your safety, which I know you know."

Reid sighed and looked back into the pool. Emily, Jack and Morgan looked like they were having the time of their lives. Even Rossi, Garcia and JJ looked like they were having fun. He looked back at Hotch. "You won't let go?" He asked.

"Not unless you ask me to." Hotch promised.

Reid huffed. "Fine." He stuck out an arm and Hotch smiled. Dipping the floatie into the water, he wet Reid's arm and gently slipped it on, repeating the process with his other arm. Feeling a little foolish, Reid let Hotch lead him over to the shallow end where Garcia and JJ were floating around. Hotch slipped into the water first and held his arms out for Reid. He hesitated, but moved into them, shivering as the cold water enveloped him. "Hotch!" He squeaked and clutched his neck, practically trying to climb up him.

"Reid, I got you, it's fine." Hotch said calmly. It took a minute or two, but Hotch slowly walked around the shallow end with Reid in his arms, letting the boy get used to the water. It wasn't as bad as Reid thought it would be. He released his grip a little and Hotch took his hands, lowering him into the water all by himself. He pulled Reid along, letting him kick and get used to being in the water again. This wasn't so hard. Reid thought with a grin.

"Look at you go Boy Wonder!" Garcia yelled proudly. She pulled out the waterproof camera she had bought earlier and snapped a photo. Reid wasn't even embarrassed. He was having fun.

Emily climbed up onto Morgan's shoulders and held his hands, holding herself in place. "JJ!" She yelled. "Watch this!" She flung herself forward and did a full summersault flip before landing in the water. Garcia and JJ cheered.

"Wow, show me!" Jack asked.

"No!" Hotch said quickly. "Jack, Emily already knows how."

Disgruntled, Jack sighed and swam over to his father, annoyed that Reid was taking his attention away from him. Reid allowed himself to be passed over to JJ while Hotch swam with Jack for a while. JJ wouldn't let him drown and he was getting the hang of this whole swimming thing.

"How're you doing Spence?" JJ asked as they floated past Rossi.

"This is fun." He said with a grin. "I think we should do it again once Henry gets back."

"Good idea. Want to try putting your head under?"

Reid hesitated but nodded. JJ showed him how to stick his face into the water and blow bubbles. He mimicked her and found that it wasn't as hard as he had thought. He liked being in the water. He told JJ to let go, and she hovered next to him, ready to grab him if he needed. He paddled along, following behind Rossi and becoming more and more comfortable in the water. "I'm okay JJ. You don't need to stay with me." He insisted.

"Reid..." JJ started to protest.

"I got him." Rossi told her, and slowed his laps down a little while Reid trailed along behind him. JJ swam over to Morgan and Emily, coming up behind them and jumping onto Morgan's back with a yell. Emily screamed with delight as Morgan threw the blonde into the air. She swam over as JJ popped back up and raced her across the pool. Garcia snapped photo after photo of everyone, documenting the entire day. Emily was fast, she was a good swimmer, Reid was a little jealous, but only for a second. This was possibly the best day ever.


	8. Chapter 8

Emily grinned mischievously and swam forward, grabbing hold of Morgan's neck she giggled. Garcia was watching from the bleachers, having deemed the water too cold stay in, her camera at the ready. Rossi had finished his laps and was just climbing out of the pool to join her; Hotch was still teaching Reid to swim while JJ and Jack were circling Morgan and Emily. The little girl, situated herself on top of Morgan's shoulders watching as Jack did the same with JJ. The foursome squared off against each other and Emily giggled again. Morgan couldn't ever remember hearing Prentiss giggle ever, burst out laughing? Sure, but giggling? It sounded good on her.

"You ready Princess?" He called up to her.

"Let's kick some ass!" She yelled out. Morgan grinned but saw JJ narrow her eyes and nod up to Jack. Morgan lightly smacked Emily's leg, but advanced on the blonde. Jack and Emily grasped each others shoulders and began pushing at each other frantically. Morgan and JJ were laughing just as hard as the kids.

"Come on Prentiss, get him!" Morgan cheered.

"Don't let him bully you Jack!" JJ smirked at Morgan. "We got this!"

Emily and Jack were both latched onto each other with vice like grips, neither willing to give. In the end, Emily's training won out and she knocked Jack – and JJ – down into the water. Emily and Morgan erupted into cheers and Morgan ran around the shallow end with her still on his shoulders. JJ and Jack came back up and thinking quickly, JJ wrapped her arms around the little boy and threw him into the air before he could pout about loosing. Morgan repeated the gesture with Emily, throwing her in JJ's direction as Jack swam up to him. Emily came up and stuck her arms out for JJ, paddling over to the blonde as quickly as she could. "We beat you." She announced proudly.

"Barely." She responded with a grin as she hauled Emily up into her arms. She was thrilled at how much better the brunette seemed. Emily wrapped her legs around JJ's torso and let her walk her around the shallow end much like Hotch had been doing with Reid when he first got into the water. Morgan was across the pool showing Jack how to dive again. "How's the foot feeling?" JJ asked. She noticed Emily look away from her eyes and tighten her grip on JJ's neck.

"Fine." She answered nonchalantly. JJ narrowed her eyes playfully and bumped their forehands together. "It's hurting a little bit, but it's not a big deal." Emily admitted.

JJ sighed and looked up at the clock. "Well, we should get going soon anyway, we can ice it when we get home okay?"

Emily nodded and let JJ pulled her around in the water a little more. It felt oddly calming to feel the water going past her lower body, she was about to wriggle out of JJ's grasp, embarrassed to be like this in front of the entire team. Since she had been sick, her relationship with JJ had changed; she was much more comfortable with the blonde. For some reason, she didn't want Morgan or Garcia to tease her about it. She started to pull away but JJ tightened her grip and made her way over to Hotch and Reid.

"JJ! Emily! Watch this!" Reid yelled excitedly. Hotch released him, but hovered close by, JJ and Emily watched as Reid stuck his face into the water, blew bubbles and began swimming forward. The floaties made for a bit of difficulty, but without them he surely would have drowned. It was impressive, Reid was a fast learner. He made it the short length of the shallow end and back, his face popping up and breaking out into a huge grin as Emily, JJ, Morgan, Jack, Garcia and Rossi burst out into cheers. Reid looked over to Hotch, who had a proud look etched onto his face, sheepishly, he paddled back over to them.

"Good job Spence." JJ smiled. Emily slunk out of her grasp and swam back over to Morgan and Jack. The three of them did a couple more dives as Hotch, JJ and Reid climbed out of the pool. Reid, tiny and shivering stood as still as he could, shaking as Garcia took the floaties off and quickly wrapped him in a towel.

"Holy crap! He's blue!" Garcia said as she pulled him closer and tried to dry him off as quickly as possible.

"I'm not ccccoolld." Reid stuttered while shivering. JJ made a face at him and he maturely stuck his tongue out at her as Jack joined them.

"I'm freezing Daddy." He said, holding himself. Hotch grinned and handed him a towel, shuffling the two boys off into the locker room to get changed, Rossi had already gone in.

"Em, Derek! Come on! Let's go!" JJ yelled as Garcia headed off into the women's locker rooms.

"I'm not cold!" Emily yelled as Morgan threw her into the air for the millionth time that day.

"I am." He said, swimming over to the ledge and lifting himself out. JJ threw his towel at his face and he pretended to hit her with it as he hurried into the locker rooms, desperate for a hot shower.

"Emily!" JJ called again. "Come on, I'm cold."

The little girl was across the pool, doing her best to ignore the blonde. She ducked underwater, holding her breath and looking up at the surface from below. It was one of the only things she remembered from swimming as a kid. It was comforting and frightening all at the same time. Making her feel like she was in a different world for a moment or so. Suspended. It felt very much like her current situation, half child, half woman, confusing and wonderful at the same time. JJ's face appeared blurry above her and she grinned, opening her mouth and swimming up to the surface. Without a word, she spat the water out, spraying it in the blonde's face. JJ squealed and tried to grab hold of Emily, but she quickly swam away to the middle of the pool.

"Oh, you are gonna pay for that." JJ warned.

"Not if you can't get me."

JJ narrowed her eyes, dropped her towel back onto the bench and dove into the water, coming up next to Emily before she knew it. The brunette feverently tried to swim away, but JJ caught her around the middle and tickled her, both of them laughing. "I warned you." She said with a smirk as she lifted Emily out of the pool. "Come on, Garcia's probably already done by now."

"Reid was really blue." Emily said as JJ wrapped a towel around her body.

"So are you, you're shivering like crazy. Em, you just got over a fever this might not have been the best idea." JJ said, a little worried.

"No! I'm glad we did it, I had fun." Emily insisted as they made their way into the locker room. JJ could tell she was trying not to put too much weight on her foot.

"There you guys are!" Garcia said as she caught sight of them. The bubbly blonde was already dressed and simply pulling on her many accessories, glasses, bracelets, everything one could think of.

"Emily spit water in my face." JJ announced as she turned the showers on.

Garcia smirked at Emily and swatted her lightly as she walked past her. "Good one." She whispered. Emily laughed lightly and followed JJ into the showers, too short to reach the handle she tried to lift up onto her good foot and almost slipped. JJ caught her and turned the water on for her, setting the shampoo and conditioner down onto the floor so she wouldn't try to reach up again. The girls showered quickly and made their way back into the locker area. Garcia was still loading up on the bracelets as the two of them dressed as quickly as possible. Shuffling out of the locker room, they met the boys already in the hallway. Garcia had had enough time to blow dry her hair, but JJ only brushed hers back and pulled it up into a bun. Emily's was tangled and dripping down onto her back and JJ suppressed a laugh. She pulled Emily over and squeeze dried it with an extra towel. Garcia happily whipped out some de-tangler spray and went to town on the little girl's hair until she yelled and ran away, Jack and Reid following along behind her.

* * *

><p>Reid was ecstatic. He could swim. He needed floaties, but that was beside the point. His mother had always promised to teach him, once she remembered to sign him up for lessons, but she always forgot to take him and his father was too busy and eventually everyone forgot about it. Everyone except Reid. Gym had been horrible enough, but once they introduced swimming Reid had been mortified. He had actually skipped class.<p>

Hotch was a great teacher. Patient, clam, there to catch him in a second but not hovering so that Reid couldn't actually try it himself. He had made Reid feel that this would have been exactly how he would have taught him if he still looked thirty, minus perhaps the floaties.

Reid hadn't felt embarrassed at all once he got into the water. As Hotch put the floaties on him he was afraid Morgan would say something, but he didn't. Maybe because Jack had been there, maybe he just didn't care, but Reid was grateful. Near the end of the day Morgan had taken over for Hotch when Jack wanted his father to swim with him and JJ had Emily. Reid knew Morgan wouldn't let him drown, and at that point, he had felt much more comfortable in the water.

"Not bad kid." Morgan said with a grin as he wadded next to Reid.

"Thanks." Reid righted himself with the floaties and looked around. Hotch and Jack were diving off the side of the pool, Garcia was splashing Rossi every time he lapped past her, and JJ was showing Emily how to do handstands underwater. He grinned sheepishly at Morgan. "Can you throw me like you were doing with Emily and Jack?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah." Morgan smiled and lifted Reid into the air. "Now kid, you gotta hold your breath, you'll come right back up, floaties will help make it faster."

"Morgan, I'm thirty years old, I'm fully aware of the fact that people are buoyant."

Morgan chuckled and shook his head. "Alright kid, one, two...three." He threw Reid into the air and the little boy squealed and flailed his arms before slamming into the water. At the last second, he had remembered to close his mouth. Morgan had been right, the floaties hauled him back up to the surface in a matter of seconds, sputtering and grinning like a true four year old.

"Do it again!"

Swimming had tired everyone out, but they all decided to go get dinner together. Since it was warm out, they went to get pizza and sat outside the restaurant on a large bench. Reid was still wired from swimming, he knew he was running on adrenaline, but he didn't really care; when Jack tagged him and took off running, Reid followed. His legs were smaller and it was hard to catch Jack, but he enlisted Emily's help. The brunette tackled Jack and sat on him while Reid tagged him back, grinning like a madman. Thankfully, Jack was a good sport, and dinner was ready otherwise a fight might have ensued. Jack did make a big show out of sitting next to Hotch and making sure Reid was next to Morgan instead, but Reid didn't mind.

"Is there any spinach?" Emily asked. The waitress bringing over their pizzas looked over to her with a look of shock.

"Spinach? You like spinach pizza?" She asked. Confused, Emily nodded and glanced between the waitress and JJ. "Wow, good job." The woman said to JJ. "I got three, I can't get one of them to eat anything green, not even if I put it on pizza." She smiled at JJ and winked at Emily. Feeling oddly embarrassed, Emily ducked her head into JJ's shoulder as the blonde smiled politely at the woman.

"I'm starving." Morgan announced and reached across the table and pulled a large slice of pizza out. The rest of the evening went by quickly; everyone was tired and hungry. Reid noticed that his head continually nodded into his hands, he hadn't really thought much of it, but he was aware of someone lifting him into their arms. He rested his head onto their chest and realized it was Morgan. "Shut it kid." He said before Reid could say anything. "Just go to sleep, I got ya."

Reid did exactly that. Within a few more minutes, Jack was out as well and they decided to call it a night. Morgan carried Reid into Hotch's car and strapped him in, giving the boy a light tap on his head. "Night Hotch." He said with a wave.

"Thanks Morgan." Hotch strapped Jack in and drove home contemplating getting both boys into the house without waking them up. In the end Jack was half awake anyway and Hotch just had to ease him down the hall while he carried Reid. He deposited them both, only bothering to take of their shoes before tucking them in.

* * *

><p>Knocking on the door woke Emily up. She crawled out of her bed and shuffled downstairs, her foot feeling almost completely better. She looked at the clock in the hall and saw that it was only seven am. Groaning, she opened the door to see Will with Henry in his arms. "Uh...hi Emily." He said, forgetting what had happened until he saw her again.<p>

"Hi Will, JJ's still asleep. Hi Henry."

"Oh, well should I..."

"I can watch him, she'll be up soon, did he eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, we just got an early flight, I gotta be back soon on a case."

"No problem." Emily said, holding her arms out for Henry before remembering she was too little to really hold him all that well. Will set him down anyway and Henry stood next to Emily, taking her hand in his and smiling up at his father.

"Are you...I mean..."

"I'm still me." Emily reassured him, trying not to confuse Henry but letting Will know that she could actually watch him.

"Alright, hope everything gets back to normal soon, tell JJ to give me a call." He said. "Bye Buddy, gimmie a hug." He bent down and hugged Henry and then Emily closed the door.

The little boy had yet to release Emily's hand. "Is Mommy sleeping?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was too." She grumbled, but tickled his stomach to let him know she wasn't mad.

"Are you better?"

"Yep." Emily answered proudly. "Want to watch tv?"

Henry nodded and Emily set him up with _The Lion King_ while she shuffled off to the kitchen. Reid had called the other day and informed Emily that he had been reading up on coffee and found that it wasn't actually bad for children. He gave her permission to drink it. Emily had threatened to punch him, saying she didn't need his permission for anything. Her cravings had actually gone mostly away, she had been already trying to cut back on coffee before everything had happened anyway; but right now, she felt like having some. JJ was always desperate for it first thing in the morning, and it would be something nice to do for the blonde after everything she had been doing for her. Emily remembered to glance into the living room now and again to make sure Henry was fine. She dragged a chair over to the counter and started the coffee, then realizing she was hungry decided she would make JJ breakfast. Pulling out eggs and toast, she cracked them and began making scrambled eggs. It was a little harder at the angle from standing on a chair, but once she got the hang of it again, the eggs were perfect.

Beaming, Emily made up plates of eggs and toast, just the way she knew JJ liked it and put it onto a tray. "Hey Henry, want to give your mom breakfast in bed?" Emily asked.

A mopey blonde head turned around and Henry grinned. "Sure, what can I carry?"

Emily handed him the small plate with toast and told him to keep it level. She carried the eggs and JJ's coffee and the two of them trotted up the stairs as quietly as possible. "Knock lightly on the door." Emily ordered him. Henry happily obliged and after hearing a faint 'come in' he grinned. "Kay, open it, then hide behind me, we'll surprise her."

"Okay!" Henry whispered, thrilled to have some sort of secret. He ducked behind her and giggled, Emily whispered to him to shut up.

"Hi JJ." Emily said as they walked into the bedroom. "We've got a surprise."

"We?" JJ asked, confused. She noticed the food and grinned, Emily quickly set it down on the dresser and reached behind her, taking the plate of toast before Henry dropped it. Emily then pushed Henry forward with a smile. "Henry!" JJ yelled happily.

"MOMMY!" Henry took off and jumped onto the bed, crawling up into JJ's arms and hugging her tightly.

Emily watched with a small smile. They had only been apart for three days, one would think they hadn't seen each other in years. Emily sat down in the chair next to JJ's dresser and watched them. Her mother had left her all the time, staying away for weeks at a time, hardly ever calling, if it was it was short and to the point. Had she done her homework? Was she behaving well? Eating well? And then that was that, this person needed her or that one, it never mattered, the conversations never lasted a full three minutes. When Elizabeth returned home, she would give Emily a tight smile and a nod and walk past her. Emily had never once ran to her and jumped into her arms. She never would have dared to climb into her bed, and cuddling was something she had only seen on tv. Henry was going to have a great life.

"You guys cooked?" JJ asked, looking over to Emily. The little girl nodded and smiled, picking up the food and coffee and bringing it over to JJ. Henry moved off of her lap and next to her, searching the covers for JJ's bedroom remote. He turned the tv onto cartoons and leaned his head against his mother's side happily. "This looks delicious Em." JJ thanked her. Emily gave her a small smile and nodded, turning to leave the room and give them some privacy. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" JJ pulled her shirt and hauled her up onto the bed. "Here, have some toast." JJ passed it over and lightly kicked Emily's leg with a grin. She beamed back at JJ and sighed, letting herself enjoy the moment.


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy Easter everyone! Hope you get lots of chocolate bunnies:) Thanks for all your reviews so far, they really help motivate me:) **

Jack woke up hearing a noise in the middle of the night. Tired and annoyed, he flopped his body over and looked for the source. Seeing Reid on the air mattress thrashing about in the middle of a nightmare, Jack climbed out of his bed, instantly missing the warmth of his blankets and climbed onto the mattress. He pulled the smaller boy into his arms and held onto him, whispering comfort like his daddy did for him. Reid didn't wake up, but he relaxed into Jack's hold after a minute or two. With a yawn, Jack made himself more comfortable and kept one arm slung over Reid in case the little boy woke up again.

When Hotch woke up the next morning, he didn't hear Jack or Reid. Eager to have a few moments of peace, he pulled on a sweatshirt and went to make some coffee. While it was brewing, he tip toed down the hall to use the bathroom and check on the boys. When he looked into Jack's room he grinned. Quickly getting his camera, he snapped a few pictures, knowing he would regret it if he didn't. Jack and Reid were cuddled together on the air mattress, the blankets were strewn all over the place and neither of them looked all that comfortable, yet they had serene looks on their faces. Hotch couldn't really imagine Reid asking Jack to slip in with him, and if Jack had a nightmare, he would probably go to Hotch rather than Reid. He was curious, but he wasn't going to make anything out of it. Heading back to the kitchen, he began mixing batter for pancakes.

By the time he had made the first batch, both boys shuffled down the hall, sleep still in their eyes. Reid's hair was sticking out and his tiny pjs had ridden up his legs so it looked like he was in shorts. Hotch stifled a small chuckle as Jack ran over and tackle hugged his legs.

"Morning Daddy!" He greeted him.

"Hey buddy, hi Reid, you guys hungry?"

"Yes!" Jack yelled, climbing up to the table. Reid slipped in next to him and dropped his head into his hands, letting out a big yawn.

"You still tired?" Hotch asked as he slipped a plate in front of Jack, the pancake pre cut.

"No, merely still in the process of waking up. May I have a cup of coffee please?"

"I want some too!" Jack exclaimed.

Hotch shot Reid an amused glare, and passed his cup over to Jack. "Try it, see if you like it." He said, knowing Jack would hate the bitter drink. Hotch took his black. As he predicted, Jack took a sip gingerly, grimaced and spat it back out onto the table.

"Daddy! That's horrible!" He yelled. "Why do you like it?" He asked Reid.

Reid shrugged and didn't bother answering. He simply poured in the sugar and sipped his beverage with a smile. Jack watched him, horrified and then went back to his pancakes.

"Finish up quick guys, we've got to get Jack to school." Hotch ordered them; both comically began shoveling pancake into their mouths.

"Hotch, I want to shower." Reid said with his mouth full.

"Be quick, we've got to leave in fifteen minutes." He said. Reid nodded and ran down the hallway, ripping his pjs off along the way as only a hurried four year old could. Hotch hid his laughter into his mug as Jack ran into his bedroom to get dressed.

Reid turned on the water and jumped in, yelping since he hadn't really waited for it to get warm enough. He ran Hotch's shampoo through his hair, rubbed his body with soap, rinsed his hair and jumped out. The little boy dripped water everywhere as he reached around, turned off the spout and began drying his body.

"Reid, ten minutes!" Hotch yelled.

"Coming!" Reid yelled back. He wrapped the towel around himself and tripped twice as he waddled down the hall, still dripping water everywhere. Jack had just finished dressing and headed past Reid into the hall. "Tell Hotch I'll be right out." Reid told him, the bigger boy nodded and grabbed his backpack. Reid rubbed his hair roughly and threw the towel onto the ground. Hotch had put Reid's new clothes into the bottom drawer of Jack's dresser and Reid yanked it open. Stark naked and shivering, he pulled out some underwear, kakis, a button down long sleeved t-shirt and a cardigan. Hearing Jack and Hotch moving hurriedly around, he yanked his clothes on as fast as he could.

"Reid!" Hotch yelled again. Reid ran out of Jack's room still buttoning his shirt. "There you are, here are your shoes." Hotch handed him the new black converse Garcia had boughten him.

"I don't have any socks." Reid stated. Hotch sighed and grabbed a pair out of the laundry basket and passed them over. "They match."

"What?"

"They match." Reid repeated.

"Reid..." Hotch sighed.

"Daddy!" Jack yelled from the doorway.

"Get in the car Jack." Hotch told him. Jack groaned and ran outside and into the backseat. Reid was digging around the laundry bin for a different colored sock when Hotch lifted him into the air.

"Hotch!" Reid squeaked. Hotch ignored him, snatching two different colored socks and Reid's shoes and ran down the hall. Yelling, he slipped on some of the water Reid had dripped all over the floor. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he managed to keep Reid from falling and getting hurt, lifting him up and taking the brunt of the fall himself. Hotch gritted his teeth and stared at Reid. The little boy made a face. "Sorry." He muttered. Hotch sighed, stood up and carried Reid out to the car, brushing the little bit of water off his pants. He buckled Reid into the booster seat he had insisted on and shoved the sneakers and socks into his lap before jumping into the front seat. Reid huffed at the fact, making sure Hotch heard his disapproval and pulled on the socks, one green, one white. He was still tying his shoes when they pulled up to Jack's school.

"Love you buddy, have a good day." Hotch said giving Jack a hug.

"Bye Jack!" Reid yelled from the backseat. Jack turned around and waved before running inside with his classmates. As Hotch climbed back into the car Reid kicked his legs back and forth happily. "So, what are we doing today?" He asked.

"I want to stop into the office, I'm dropping you off with Morgan."

"I can go with you."

"No, I'm gonna be there for a few hours, I have some things to discuss with Strauss, you'll be bored and I don't really want to have to say I brought my nephew into the office."

"Okay."

They pulled up to Morgan's apartment and Reid climbed out shuffling his feet while Hotch rang the doorbell.

"Hey guys, sup?" Morgan greeted them with a smile.

"Hi." Reid gave a little wave.

"Thanks Morgan, I'll call you when I'm done."

"No prob Hotch." Morgan said with a smile. He ruffled Reid's hair and laughed as the boy squirmed away and into the apartment.

"Keep him in one piece if possible." Hotch said with a frown. Morgan laughed and closed the door.

"So, Pretty Boy, what are we doing?" He asked.

Reid shrugged. "Your house, what we're you planning on doing?"

"I already went for a run, ate breakfast and I was gonna chill on the couch and watch tv and be lazy until my date tonight."

"You've got a date?" Reid asked as he sat down onto Morgan's couch.

"Yes I do." Morgan grinned and plopped down next to him.

"Anyone I know?"

"Nope. Girl I met at a coffee shop. I'm telling ya Kid, this whole two weeks off thing is working out for me. Thanks for getting shrunk."

Reid made a face at Morgan as he turned the television onto a football game. "I'm glad my misfortune is turning out well for you." He said sarcastically. Rolling his eyes at the football, Reid pulled out a book and opened it up in his lap.

"I'm getting a beer, want one?" Morgan asked at a commercial.

"I don't think due to my current size that would be a particularly wise decision." Reid said without looking up from his book. Morgan chuckled, cracked open his beer and plopped back down on the couch.

"Whatcha reading?"

"_The Good-Bye Door_." Reid showed Morgan the cover. "It's a true crime book about Anna Marie Hahn, better known as 'The Blonde Borgia'. She was the first female serial killer to be executed by electric chair. She tended to pray on the elderly by..."

"Stop." Morgan said raising his hand. "Great, enjoy, hush, game's back on." Morgan sipped his beer as Reid shrugged and went back to his book.

* * *

><p>Henry had fallen asleep against his mother. The early flight and excitement of coming home had knocked him out. JJ slipped out from under him and gently pushed Emily forward and out of the bed. The two of them grabbed the plates and tip toed downstairs.<p>

"Thank you for the breakfast." JJ said with a smile.

"You're welcome, it was Henry's idea." Emily lied.

"Aww, that was so sweet of him."

"Yep, he's a great kid. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Okay. Anything special you want to do today?"

"No, I'll stay out of your way so you can spend some time with Henry." Emily said as she slipped out of the kitchen. Confused, JJ looked after her with a frown.

True to her word, Emily stayed out of the way the entire morning and most of the afternoon. JJ had tried to find her twice to no avail. Emily didn't even come down for lunch, JJ was afraid something was wrong, but she couldn't find the brunette to figure it out. She and Henry spent the morning playing with a train set Will had gotten him a few weeks earlier. After lunch, she set him up with a movie and went to find Emily. Finally, she found the little girl outside curled up in Henry's playhouse.

"Em?" JJ stuck her head in and clumsily climbed next to Emily, bumping her head twice. She heard Emily stifle giggles and stuck her tongue out. "What are you doing in here? I've been looking for you all day, you never got lunch." JJ situated herself into a semi comfortable sitting position, crammed in next to Emily.

"I wasn't hungry." Emily said without looking at JJ.

The blonde frowned, things with Emily had been going so well the past couple of days; they were closer than they had ever been, she didn't understand what this change was or where it was coming from. Only the day before, Emily had been following JJ around like a puppy, almost always hugging her, or staying as close to her as she could; granted she had been sick and grumpy, but this was an abrupt change from even this morning.

"Em, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine why?"

JJ stared at her friend, her compartments were up, she looked much older than six in that moment. Closed off, stoic, and distant, JJ hated it. Not sure what else to do, JJ did the first thing that came to her mind, she reached over and took Emily's small hand into hers silently. "Em, whatever is going on, when you're ready to talk to me about it, I'm here."

"I'm fine JJ, nothing is going on. I just wanted to give you and Henry some time alone." Emily insisted, becoming a little angry.

"So you thought you had to hide outside?"

"No, I was upstairs reading, I wanted some fresh air, so I came out here, I was curious about the inside so I climbed in. I was under the impression that I didn't have to report everything I did to you." Emily said shortly. She pulled her hand away from JJ and crawled out of the playhouse, leaving a hurt and baffled JJ behind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone, I wanted this up a little earlier, but work has been insane, hope you all continue to enjoy:) **

Emily felt horrible seeing JJ's hurt and confused face, but she walked away from the blonde and upstairs to her room. Seeing JJ and Henry together had made her remember that _that _was a real family and Emily wasn't a part of it, no matter what JJ said. JJ wasn't Emily's mother, and soon the doctors were going to figure out what was wrong with her and Reid and they would be back to normal. Normal being Emily a few years older than JJ, an adult, someone who didn't need to be coddled. Emily was already growing used to it, she found herself reaching for JJ just because, like little kids always did. She couldn't allow herself to get too used to this, it was temporary. It wasn't real. She hoped JJ would realize that once things were back to normal, and until then, she was going to make herself scarce.

Some masochistic part of Emily desperately wanted to call her mother. She hadn't spoken to the Ambassador in weeks, she was due to check in anyway. The two women kept their conversations short and simple, but they did them just the same. Sighing, Emily sat down on the edge of JJ's guest bed and pulled out her cellphone. Her mother picked it up on the forth ring.

"Hello Emily."

"Hi Mother." Emily said, praying her voice didn't sound too different.

"How are things?"

"Fine. The usual, lots of work, you?" Emily didn't bother telling her anything about her current predicament. Her mother would only worry about some scandal if people found out, or protest to find doctors of her own, or worst of all, try and force Emily to come home. She wasn't going to go down that line unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Same." Her mother answered. Emily could hear her flipping papers in the background, her attention not fully on Emily.

Emily bit her bottom lip to keep herself from audibly sighing. "Mom?" She asked quietly.

"What?"

"How come...how come we never did things like just cuddle in bed together or something? When I was little I mean." Emily asked, her words all rushed together. She could practically see the annoyed look on Elizabeth's face from her sigh on the other end of the phone.

"What is this about Emily?"

"I just...it was just a question Mother, never mind, forget it. I'll call you later."

"Alright." Elizabeth's disinterested voice disappeared as the line went dead. Emily dropped her phone onto the bed in annoyance and felt tears threatening to fall. Her mother couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye, let alone 'I love you'. Emily couldn't remember her ever actually saying those words to her face. She was sure they had been said at one point, but she couldn't remember it. Not wanting to cry Emily gritted her teeth and sat up straighter, trying to push the thoughts from her mind. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up.

**Morgan's going on a date.** -**Reid**

Emily smiled lightly and texted Reid back.

**How do you know that?**

**I'm at his apartment.**

**Why? **For some reason, the thought made Emily jealous.

**Hotch had to go into the office, didn't want to have to explain a mysterious nephew to people who would wonder where I disappeared to afterwards. **

**Oh, makes sense. **The brunette hesitated for a moment, then quickly made her decision. **Can I come over? **

**I'll ask Morgan, hang on. **Emily bit her lip nervously and looked out the door, not hearing JJ or Henry, she knew this would probably hurt the blonde's feelings but it was the only solution Emily could think of that would make this less difficult on all of them in the long run. **He says its fine. **Reid responded. Emily grinned, and said goodbye to Reid. Knowing she couldn't drive, Emily decided on the next best thing.

The little brunette pulled out her bag and began throwing the new clothes she had gotten into it. She made her bed, and cleaned the entire room so it looked like no one had been staying there. Pulling out a piece of paper, she jotted down a quick note to JJ, hoping it didn't sound too harsh or simplified. She knew that eventually she was going to have to talk to JJ and explain, but right now, she just wanted to avoid that at all costs. Zipping up her light blue sweatshirt, she slung her bag over her shoulder and peaked out into the hall. She could hear JJ getting Henry ready for his bath and quickly scurried down the hall, downstairs and out the front door. There was a bus stop only a block or so from JJ's house and Emily walked there quickly. It wasn't cold out, but it was a little chilly with the breeze and by the time the bus pulled up, Emily was shivering slightly. She kept her head down and ignored the bus driver's stare at the sight of a lone six year old girl riding the bus. She dropped her fare down and slid into an empty seat near the middle of the bus.

The ride seemed to take forever, just when Emily was ready to tear her hair out from boredom, they finally arrived at her stop. She all but leapt out of her seat and off of the bus. She briskly walked down the street as the night grew darker, she realized just how little she really was right now. Feeling frightened and angry at her fear, she ran up to Morgan's apartment and banged on the door as hard as she could.

"What?" Morgan answered after a minute or so. Looking down he almost grinned as Emily quickly slipped past him and into his apartment. "Hey Princess, how's it hanging?" He stuck his head out of the door and looked around. "Where's JJ?"

"I took the bus." Emily answered shortly. Reid walked into the room and grinned at the sight of the brunette. Shocking them both, he ran and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you." He announced. Emily couldn't help the grin that etched onto her own face. She wrapped her arms around the tiny boy and laughed.

"You two are weird, go hide in the other room, my date's gonna be here soon."

"You're gonna leave us here alone?" Emily asked in awe, Reid's face matching hers.

Morgan shrugged. "Why not, you're not really kids. Hotch will be here soon to pick Reid up, you'll be fine right?

"Yes." Both of them answered instantly. Hotch and JJ were both much more attentive than Morgan, and both of them were eager to have a bit of time for themselves.

"Alright fine." The doorbell rang. "Hide! If I see or hear either one of you, I'll smack ya." He warned.

Emily and Reid grinned mischievously but went to hide in Morgan's bedroom. They could hear Morgan greeting his date out in the other room. Reid climbed up onto Morgan's bed with Emily following. "So, when's JJ picking you up?" He asked.

"She's not. I'm gonna hang here with Morgan until this whole thing gets sorted out and we're normal again." Emily answered without looking at Reid. The little boy narrowed his eyes, he may have more childlike instincts and emotions right now, but he was still a profiler and he knew his friend and something was going on.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, want to watch _Doctor Who_?" Emily deflected the question. Reid's frown deepened. He knew that Emily didn't react well to being pushed, so he relented and turned on the tv in Morgan's room. The two of them leaned back against the headboard and watched an episode in silence. When it was over, they were both hungry and it was clear that Morgan and his date had left. They went out into the kitchen and dug around the refrigerator. Emily heard her cell phone buzz and saw JJ's name pop up on the screen. She quickly ignored it and turned away from Reid – knowing he saw it as well – making herself busy pulling out grapes.

"More _Doctor Who_?" He asked. Emily nodded and walked over to Morgan's couch. Her phone rang again. Again, she hit ignore. Again Reid watched. She could feel the younger boy watching, not judging, not asking, just watching. Somehow, that was worse.

"It's nothing Reid, I just don't want to be treated like a kid, I can hang out with Morgan, I can't really with JJ and Henry."

"Why not? It's fine with Hotch and Jack." Reid stated with a shrug.

Emily popped a grape in her mouth to hold off answering, her phone rang a third time. Emily hit ignore, ate another grape and sighed. "It's...I love JJ Reid but, we're _not_ kids. This is all going to be over soon, I don't want to get used to something that's temporary. That's not real. This isn't real." Emily felt herself beginning to cry and gritted her teeth. She was beyond sick of how emotional she was recently. It was much harder to hide behind her compartments with part of a six year old's mind. The part that annoyed her the most, was despite everything she was saying to Reid right now, all she wanted to do was go get a hug from JJ. A few days and she was already attached to something that wasn't real. So much for the international agent she used to be, able to become an entirely different person. She was pathetic.

Reid was quiet, not looking at Emily or the television. Her phone buzzed a forth time and she almost answered it, hitting ignore was getting harder every time.

"You're scared." Reid stated. There was no judgement in his voice, no condensation, just a simple fact stated out loud. Emily began to cry silently. Reid scooted over and wrapped his tiny body around Emily's tightly. She refused to hold him back, if she hugged him, she wouldn't be crying silently, it would be loud horrible sobs. "You're scared." Reid repeated. "You love all of us, we're your family, but if you're little and you let someone take care of you, you don't think you'll be able to handle it afterwards." His grip tightened and Emily let out a large sob. Reid didn't say anything else for a few minutes, just held Emily and let her cry. It took about ten minutes or so, but Emily finally got herself to calm down. "Emily?" Reid asked. She turned her head down to him slightly and raised her eyebrows in question. "Do you really think JJ would do that?" He asked softly.

"What?" Emily whispered, wiping her remaining tears away.

Reid loosened his grip and looked up to Emily, their faces only inches apart. He chose his words carefully. "Emily, why would anything have to be different once we're back to normal? And even if it was, why would that mean we can't enjoy it while it lasts?"

"Reid..."

Reid cut her off, pulling away completely besides holding her hand. "I talked to my mom a few times since this happened. At first, I thought the same thing you did, that it was embarrassing, that if we got used to things it would hurt after it was over, but that's not true. My mom did the best she could, I always knew she loved me, but my dad...I _like_ having Hotch around. I _like_ how my relationship with him is changing. And I don't think that will change for the bad once things go back to normal. Will our relationship be a little different, will there be a bit of an adjustment period sure, but I think it will be better. I'm not going to let myself worry about it. JJ loves you Emily. You're one of her best friends, nothing about that is going to change. If anything, you guys seem closer. than ever."

"I talked to my mom today." Emily whispered.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing." Emily said in frustration. "I just...Henry came home and JJ was _so_ happy, she loves him, she actually tells him that, she wants to spend time with him, she hugs him just because she wants to, my mom...she's nothing like that. I don't know why. I don't know what's wrong with me." Emily's voice broke and she began to cry again, she curled herself into Reid – with some difficulty due to his small size.

"Nothing." Reid said quickly. "I used to ask myself that all the time after my dad left. It took me a really long time to figure out that nothing was wrong with me, there was something wrong with him."

Emily and Reid stayed quiet, the only sound in the room coming from the television and Emily's cries. Reid had said what he felt he could say, it was up to Emily whether or not she listened to him. Emily had almost calmed all the way down when the doorbell rang. Reid climbed down off the couch and opened the door for Hotch, Emily walking up behind him.

"Hi Emily." Hotch said, somewhat shocked to see her. "How are you?"

"Good, you?" She asked, easily reverting to her stoic, brave face. Hotch saw right through it, but refrained from commenting.

"Good, where's Morgan?"

"On a date." Reid explained as he picked up his messenger bag and walked over to Hotch.

"He left you guys alone?" Hotch asked a little angrily.

"We're not actually children Hotch." Emily glared with her arms crossed.

Hotch didn't seem to know how to respond to Emily's hostility. He looked down to Reid who pushed Hotch out the door. "I'll be right out." He said giving the older man a second – harder – shove. Hotch looked utterly confused but walked down to his car. "Call me if you want later." Reid said, hugging Emily without caring if she wanted him to or not. "And answer JJ, if nothing else to tell her that you're okay, she's probably just worried."

Emily shrugged and Reid ran down the sidewalk and climbed into Hotch's car. The older man gave her a small wave before pulling out and Emily could see him putting his phone to his ear. She figured he was calling JJ, if nothing else, that might get her out of answering the blonde's calls. She glanced to the clock in the hall and saw that it was only eight pm. Morgan probably wouldn't be back for a few hours at least. Emily plopped herself down in front of the couch again and shut her phone off, unable to deal with ignoring JJ's calls anymore. She decided that she would mindlessly watch a few more episodes of _Doctor Who_. In the middle of the third episode, she couldn't take it anymore and turned her phone back on noticing that she had a few new text messages.

**Why is JJ calling me and freaking out while I'm on a date? What did you do Princess? - Morgan**

**Hotch talked to JJ, just letting you know, call or text me if you want later – Reid**

**Why is my lovely fellow blonde freaking out? Where are you? - Garcia**

**Em, whatever is going on please just talk to me. What did I do? At least...please just tell me you're alright. -JJ**

JJ's text message broke her heart. Emily didn't think she had anymore tears to let out, but apparently she did. Furious at her crying she wanted to hit something, so she attacked the couch pillow. After she had calmed down, Morgan finally came home, a dopey grin on his face that dropped the second he saw her.

"Emily, what's up?" He asked gently.

"I really don't want to talk about it anymore. Can I please stay here tonight?" Emily asked, angry at how little and desperate she sounded.

Morgan's face fell a little. "Course you can." He said simply. "You tired now? Cause I'm beat."

"Yeah, you got an extra blanket or something?"

"Probably somewhere, you can just crash with me if you want though, bed's huge."

"You're just trying to get me into your bed aren't you?" Emily joked. Morgan turned to her, broke out into a grin and winked.

"You know it Princess."

Emily returned his smile and it wasn't forced. This is why she had gone to Morgan's. Garcia would have coddled her and made a huge deal and called JJ the second Emily went into the bathroom; Hotch might not have said much but what he would have said would have made her feel incredibly guilty. As a parent, and in their situations, he definitely would have called JJ. Rossi, Rossi would have been the second choice, but he had a silent judgement to him, he wasn't afraid to push buttons and Emily didn't want that tonight. Morgan would make her laugh, Morgan would let her be.

Deciding that she didn't really want to crash on his couch – or she didn't want to be fully alone – she followed Morgan into his bedroom. Probably for her benefit, he pulled on some pajama pants and a t-shirt rather than just boxers. Emily climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. "How was your date?" She asked.

"Good." He said happily. "I really like her."

"What's her name?"

"Megan, she's a teacher."

"She pretty?"

"Course." Morgan said shoving Emily lightly and laughing. Emily grinned and sighed, allowing herself to enjoy being with her friend. Trying to enjoy it. JJ was in the back of her mind and she felt horrible. She reached over and pulled her phone from Morgan's bedside table. She sent a quick text message – **I'm okay. I'm at Morgan's. You didn't do anything –** and turned her phone off, sinking back into Morgan's comfortable bed. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked.

"Not now."

"Alright, night Princess." Morgan surprised her by moving over and kissing her sweetly on the cheek before turning on his side and going to sleep. Emily sighed and did the same, turning away from Morgan and closing her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what JJ and Henry were doing. If JJ was mad at her, or hurt, or worst of all if she didn't care, or was relieved that she didn't have to deal with the brunette anymore. Rationally, Emily knew that last thought wasn't true, but it crept into her mind all the same. Her mother always seemed relieved once Emily was out of the way. It took a lot longer than usual, but finally, Emily fell into a restless sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**So, like many of you probably are, I am a sobbing, gross mess after seeing Paget's latest tweet. If you haven't seen it – lucky you – but I am going to shatter your world by informing you that she officially wrapped season 7 and is gone from Criminal Minds forever. Our only hope now is that she sounds like she is willing to come back for a guest appearance in the future:) Anyway, I'm totally proud of her and fully support her decision, but losing a fantastic character like Emily sucks. That all being said, sorry for the recent gap in updates and that this one is so short, real life has been kicking my ass a little, my grandmother is pretty sick and work has been crazy. Hopefully, I'll be back to updating more frequently:) **

Emily loved hanging out at Morgan's place. She had woken up alone in the large bed, a note from Morgan on his bedside table saying he had gone for a run half an hour before and would be back soon. Emily stumbled into the kitchen and dug around until she found some cereal that looked acceptable. Making a pot of coffee and taking her bowl to the couch, she watched some morning talk shows while she ate breakfast. Her phone was still off and she was too nervous to turn it back on, not ready to deal with JJ yet.

Emily decided to get in the shower before Morgan got home and was just walking out of his bathroom drying her hair as he came through the door.

"Hey Princess, how'd ya sleep?" He asked her with a grin.

"Good, how was your run?"

"Great." Morgan took a long swig of his water bottle. "You find something to eat? I'm not as good of a cook as Jayje."

Emily found herself wincing a little at the mention of JJ's name but nodded and dropped her towel into the hamper. Morgan told her he was going to jump in the shower and she dug out some of her case files. She hadn't thought about work for days, not in the same way she used to. She found the distraction comforting. As Emily shifted through her files, finishing old paperwork, she grew more and more uncomfortable. Cases always made the team uncomfortable, but she had always been able to handle it. Or at least, she found a way to deal with the fact that she was having issues with a certain case. For some reason, as she read through the file, she grew frightened. The brunette knew her fears were completely irrational, the case was long over, and she didn't match the victimology at all.

JJ did.

Emily slammed the file closed and shoved it away from her. Her eyes immediately went to her cell phone sitting on the counter. It was still off from last night. With a groan, Emily turned it back on and felt like throwing up as she waited. As expected, her phone was full of messages. Six missed calls from JJ, three from Garcia, two from Hotch, and one from Reid. There were even more text messages; a couple of frantic and scolding ones from Garcia, one from Reid telling her that he had the whole day free if Emily wanted to hang out with someone her size, and a couple from JJ. The one from the night before, her response to Emily's last night, and a new one from this morning.

**Thank you for answering me:) -JJ 11:56pm**

**Morning, Henry misses you. So do I, call me when you're ready- JJ **

Emily almost hit reply, but she didn't know what to say to JJ yet, and she didn't want to talk to the blonde until she knew what she would say. She couldn't bare to hurt her friend further, especially not after everything she had done for Emily.

Morgan sauntered into the room, dressed and ready to go for the day. "So Princess, what'd ya want to do?" He asked with a grin.

* * *

><p>"I can't keep calling her Pen." JJ said for the third time. Garcia set down a mug filled to the brim with coffee in front of JJ and took a seat next to her. JJ smiled at Henry as he smashed two toy trucks together loudly on the floor.<p>

"Well, actually you can, you just don't want to." Garcia pointed out.

JJ frowned at her friend and sipped her coffee gingerly. It was too hot. She set it back down on the counter and unconsciously glanced at her phone again. "Garcia, I have no idea what I did, but I know that it doesn't help to push her, she'll tell me when she's ready." JJ said solemnly.

"Well, I can call Morgan and force him to get it out of her." Garcia offered with a smirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks." JJ said, giving Garcia a small smile back, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Well then want me to distract you?"

"Yes please."

Garcia grinned mischievously and JJ had a feeling she was going to regret whatever was about to happen.

* * *

><p>"Hotch, have you heard anything from the doctors working on our case recently?" Reid asked the older man.<p>

Hotch looked up from his files – a man could only take so much vacation – and frowned slightly. "Um, no, would you like me to give them a call?"

"It might make Emily feel better." Reid answered quickly.

Hotch released a small smile and picked up the telephone. "Only Emily?"

Reid bit his lip and hoped up onto Hotch's recently vacated chair, crossing his legs underneath him. "Well, perhaps me as well." He added.

Reid waited while Hotch called the doctors and found himself wanting to spin around in Hotch's chair. Jack was watching some children's movie that had lost Reid's interest and the small boy was enjoying a moment to himself. Reid really liked Jack, but he was used to being alone the majority of the time he wasn't at work.

"They've preformed a number of tests, ruled a couple of things out, so they're making progress." Hotch announced as he walked back into the room.

"That's good to hear I suppose."

Hotch moved to sit down opposite of Reid. "Is something bothering you?" He asked gently.

Automatically, Reid went to say no, but he stopped himself and nodded. "Emily." He whispered.

"Do you know what's wrong with her? JJ was really upset when I talked to her last night."

"Yeah, but I don't know if its my place to say." Reid said quietly. Hotch nodded, accepting Reid's answer. Reid almost wished that Hotch would press him, so he would have an excuse to talk about it, but he knew Hotch wouldn't do that. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other's company. Hotch turned back to his files after seeing that Reid wasn't going to say anything else, and Reid pulled out a book. "Hotch, when things do go back to normal umm...I mean I was wondering if..." He trailed off a little and Hotch picked it up for him.

"Reid, I hope you know that I'm always here." Hotch said.

Reid grinned, that was all he needed to know. He jumped down off of the chair and let himself hug Hotch tightly before running back out to watch tv with Jack.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone, thank you so much for all of your kind words and messages. Unfortunately, my grandmother did die about a week ago. She had too many complications from the heart surgery and her body just couldn't seem to handle it. She signed a DNR and went into heart failure very quickly afterwords. I didn't know her all that well, I only saw her like once a year so it was sad at the calling hours and the funeral but more for my dad than for me. Which made me feel a bit guilty and just not in the mood for anything. Also work was insane, but it is settling down now and I will have more time to write:) So far, it seems my uncle's treatments are doing as well as they can, but it's a severe situation and kind of a wait and see thing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my mind on other things, like writing:) Thank you again for the patience and the thoughts, they really do mean a lot. Hope you enjoy, this one is shorter than I wanted, but I promise, they will be longer and more frequent soon:) Happy mother's day!**

Reid stumbled out of bed and found that Jack was already gone. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced at the clock on the bedside table – 9:28 – he frowned, Jack usually woke him up much earlier. Hotch must have made him be quiet. Reid walked down the silent hall to the bathroom and shut the door gently. He had to climb up onto Jack's old step stool to reach the sink by himself. That had bothered him greatly only days before, but now he didn't think much of it. His hair was going in a million different directions and he tried hopelessly to brush it down with his fingers.

Curious about the lack of noise, Reid dressed himself and headed into the kitchen. Hotch and Jack were sitting on the couch watching something on television. Reid glanced at it and his eyes widened as he recognized Haley Hotchner. It appeared to be a home video. Haley was playing soccer with Jack. Reid tip toed backwards to give them a moment to themselves, but he stepped on the creaky floorboard and Hotch turned around.

"Morning Reid." He said with a smile.

"Sorry." Reid said, sheepishly.

Jack turned his head around and grinned at Reid. "Happy Mother's day." He said. Reid froze. Jack was smiling, but he was quiet and solemn. Reid hadn't realized what day it was, he hadn't gotten his mother anything.

Hotch stood up after giving Jack a kiss and letting him watch longer. He walked with Reid into the kitchen. "I'm sorry Hotch, I didn't realize what day it was, I'll stay out of the way." Reid began.

"No, no, Reid that's not necessary." Hotch said quickly. "He's alright, we're going to go visit Haley's grave and then have lunch here, you're welcome to join us if you want..."

"No, you should do it by yourself. I'll...I'll go to Morgan's or Garcia's or something. I should call my mom too anyway, I...I forgot." Reid admitted.

"If that's what you want, then that's fine." Hotch said. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes please." Reid climbed up onto a stool and happily dug in, thinking about what he should send his mother. He could pay extra to have it shipped, it would suck, but he could do it. He couldn't believe he had forgotten Mother's Day.

Once he had eaten, Reid went back to Jack's room and called Morgan, asking if he could come over for the day. Morgan informed him that he was actually going to fly up to Chicago to see his mother, but he was welcome to come hang at his apartment with Emily. Apparently the brunette was refusing to go anywhere else. Morgan had attempted to use the fact that he was much larger than her to his advantage had had gotten bruises on his shins for his troubles. Reid accepted and asked Hotch if he would drop him off at Morgan's on the way to the cemetery. He declined to mention that Morgan wouldn't be there; wary that Hotch might not like the idea.

Jack was quiet the whole drive over and Reid didn't want to press him. When they pulled up to Morgan's apartment, Jack smiled lightly at Reid. "Bye." He whispered.

"Bye Jack, say hi for me." He said. For some reason, that seemed to make Jack happier and Reid grinned to himself as he walked up the steps. Emily pulled the door open before he could knock and they both waved goodbye as Hotch pulled away.

"Morgan left already." Emily informed him as they went inside.

"I figured. Do you mind if I call my mom before we hang out?"

"No."

"Did you call your mother?" Reid asked gingerly.

Emily's lip's tightened and Reid watched her cross her arms in front of herself. "Yeah." She said before walking away and getting herself a glass of water. Reid sighed and went into Morgan's room for some privacy. He wanted to ask if she had called JJ yet, but he didn't want to make her even more upset. Reid's first call was to order his mother's present, he had found an old book he was sure she would love.

"Hello?" Diana Reid's voice crackled through the telephone line and Reid instantly felt better.

"Happy Mother's day." Reid said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Fine, are you alright?"

"I've uh...I've still got a cold, I'm alright though." Reid said quickly.

"You should wear a coat when you go outside."

Reid smiled lightly. "Mom, it's eighty degrees today."

"Then you'll be much too hot, don't wear a coat." Diana said seriously. Reid bit back a small laugh and enjoyed speaking with his mother for about twenty minutes or so. She seemed to be in good spirits, and it cheered both of them up. As he walked back into the living room, he saw Emily sitting on the couch, glaring at her cell phone resting on the foot table. She looked as if the inanimate object had offended her somehow; it would have been quite funny if Reid didn't know why.

"What do you want to do?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

Emily looked up, slightly startled and smoothed down her shirt unconsciously. The brunette simply shrugged and sunk further into the couch.

"What did your mother say when you talked to her?" Reid asked warily.

Emily's gaze remained straight forward, Reid could see her fists clenching and sighed, knowing she was annoyed.

"I've got a documentary on the Romanov's." He offered.

"Sounds great." Emily mumbled unenthusiastically.

Reid climbed down off the large couch and set up the dvd, wishing there was something more he could to do help his friend. At this point, he knew it was up to Emily to get over her issues, all he could do was be there for her until she was ready. Reid climbed back up to the couch and sat down eagerly to watch his documentary. After the title credits rolled, he felt Emily slip her hand into his and give it a squeeze before pulling it back to her own lap.

* * *

><p>"HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY!" Henry yelled as he flung himself onto JJ's torso.<p>

JJ grunted and kissed his mopey blonde head. "Thank you sweetheart." She said, slightly out of breath. She shifted him and wrapped her arms around the tiny boy. Today should be wonderful, in truth it was; she was having a quiet morning with her son and enjoying it; but...but she couldn't stop thinking about Emily. The blonde knew it was silly, or rather it shouldn't be bothering her today, JJ was not Emily's mother, the fact that it was Mother's day shouldn't make whatever was going on with Emily seem worse; yet it did. JJ wanted both Henry _and_ Emily with her, that was simply a fact. The blonde had been trying to give Emily the space she needed, she hadn't called her or said anything since she sent her last text message two days before. Morgan had called her and let her know that Emily was – physically at least – fine.

Henry fell asleep sometime around noon and JJ busied herself with everything she could think of, laundry, case files, she tried more than once to focus on a book or tv, but neither worked. JJ sighed and picked up her phone. With each unanswered ring JJ felt worse. She had no idea what she had done to make Emily angry with her, the fact that she simply wouldn't speak to her was unbearable. It felt like Emily was gone again, dead to the world, or at least dead to her and JJ hated it. More than hated, she was growing angry, furious even, she had taken care of her friend! She had done so much for Emily over the years, trusted her, loved her, and relied on her and Emily didn't even have the decency to tell her what was wrong. JJ was sick of it. Emily was going to talk to her whether she wanted to or not.

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, you stop ignoring me." JJ said angrily to the brunette's voicemail. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry, but you goddamn well better talk to me, even if you want to yell because I am sick of this shit. I am your friend and you love me and I love you and that is fucking that! Call me!" JJ took a deep breath. "Oh, and Happy Mother's Day." She added before she shut her phone.

JJ sat still on the couch for a moment to calm herself down. Hearing Henry she set her phone down and went upstairs to get him. She wasn't going to let her anger spill out and effect her son.

* * *

><p>Emily held her cell phone in her hand and waited to hear the beep that signaled a voicemail. She had seen JJ's call and quickly silenced it. Reid had huffed a little next to her, but hadn't taken his eyes off the tv or said a word. Emily pressed 'listen now' and put the phone to her ear, JJ's angry voice spat out at her and she winced at the hurt in her friend's voice. Emily knew it was loud enough for Reid to hear as well.<p>

"Oh, and Happy Mother's day." JJ added at the end. Emily hit save and dropped the phone into her lap.

"Shit." She muttered as her eyes welled up with tears.


	13. Chapter 13

**This is super short and I am so very sorry. I should have another – longer – one up either tomorrow or Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. **

JJ wrung her hands together nervously. She paced once more outside of Morgan's apartment then knocked impatiently on the door. Henry was with his father for the weekend and JJ was sick of Emily ignoring her. She had called and informed Morgan that she was coming over and he had promised to make himself scarce to give them some time to talk to each other.

The door opened and Emily looked up at JJ in shock. It immediately disappeared from her face as the girl's compartments went up and her face went neutral. JJ wanted to slap her.

"Hello JJ, umm Morgan just left like a minute ago..." Emily began.

"I know, I told him to go for a run." JJ said coldly as she pushed inside past Emily. She heard the brunette close the door and turned around to face her. "You and I are going to talk. Face to face. It has been four days Em. You left. Without a single word you left and you've been ignoring me and you won't tell me why. You owe me that. I have no idea what I did to make you angry but you are going to talk to me about it."

"JJ...I..." Emily started to say, her voice sounding small.

JJ interrupted her. "No Em! I AM YOUR FRIEND! I came back to help save your life. I spent _months_ lying to our friends, comforting them, trying to make them feel better because of you! Reid cried in my arms for weeks. I could have told him you were alive, I could have taken his pain away but I didn't, _for you_. I...I...you're my best friend and I love you and I have never been more angry at you in my life." JJ's voice broke and she wiped the tears out of her eyes angrily. She hadn't been looking at Emily's face, she knew it would only make her cry more; but now she looked down and met Emily's eye and it broke her heart.

The small girl had been silently sobbing the entire time.

"Em..." JJ bent down and pulled Emily into a hug, despite Emily's small protests, JJ held her tightly. After a second of resisting, Emily clung to JJ and wept. "You're okay Emily, you're okay." JJ murmured, rubbing Emily's back and hugging her. The two of them remained like that for a good twenty minutes, after it seemed like Emily was all cried out, she pushed away from JJ gently and stepped back, putting her arms around herself.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm not...I wasn't mad at you."

"Then...what is wrong Emily?" JJ asked, baffled. She remained crouched down in front of the small girl. Emily refused to met her eye and hugged herself, staring at JJ's shoes.

"I...it sounds stupid." Emily admitted. "Reid's been yelling at me for days to tell you but I just..." She trailed off, unsure of how to explain herself.

"Reid yelled at you?" JJ asked in half-amused disbelief. To her credit, it cracked a small smile out of Emily.

"Well, not _yelled_ but you know what I mean."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure its not stupid, just tell me." JJ asked softly.

Emily took a deep breath and hugged herself tighter. "I just...I'm not really a kid and you treat me like...you look at me me the same way you look at Henry."

"Oh Em I wasn't trying to..."

"No! I...I like it." Emily admitted. "I...I don't mean like you're embarrassing me, or talking down to me that's not...that's not what I meant. I mean...I mean that I feel like, like I'm..." Emily choked back a sob and JJ reached out to hug her but Emily back away from the blonde. "I wished you were my mom and your not. I'm _not _a child. I don't need a mother but I love you anyway and its not real and I'm afraid that if I stay with you any longer that it will just make me feel worse when its over. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings JJ because I never want to do that. You're my best friend too and I'm so, so sorry." Emily tried to run into Morgan's room, desperate to be far away from JJ and alone. She was terribly embarrassed, but JJ caught her and pulled her in tightly.

"Emily..." JJ sighed and sat down onto the floor, pulling Emily onto her lap and kissing her temple. "I am so incredibly sorry that your mother didn't love you properly – if I ever have the pleasure of meeting her again, I have quite a few things to say to her – but you _are_ a child right now. No matter what happens, when this all goes back to normal, I'm not going anywhere. You're my best friend and I love you, nothing is going to change that whether you look like a six year old or a forty year old. Loving someone should never make you embarrassed, and I know you don't like people taking care of you, or seeing you as weak, but...there is nothing wrong with that Emily. You're not weak, you're the strongest woman I know."

Emily wrapped her arms around JJ's neck and a whole knew wave of tears found them both. JJ rocked the little girl and rubbed her back; that was how Morgan found them when he returned from his run. Pulling his headphones off, he glanced down at them, grinned and announced he would be in the shower. Emily and JJ burst into laughter and were still giggling when he got out.

"So, you two have made up then?" He asked with a smirk. JJ pulled Emily up and the girl ran into Morgan's room to pack her things. "Am I getting my bed back!" Morgan asked happily.

"Yes." JJ said with a smile. She stepped forward slowly, her arms behind her back and her smile sliding into a glare which caused Morgan to back up warily. "And...if you ever leave Emily or Spence alone in their child forms for hours at a time ever again, I will personally put a bullet through your thick skull." JJ smirked, pecked Morgan on the cheek and beamed as Emily came out of his room with her bag. She took Emily's hand and lead her out of the apartment and into her car. Morgan looked like he might piss himself, but slapped on an apologetic smile as they left.


	14. Chapter 14

Reid bounced up and down on his toes, something very out of character for him. Jack did it all the time and Reid found that he had started mimicking the boy without even noticing it. Right now, he was trying to see over adults much taller than him to find Emily. The brunette had texted him the night before and informed him that she was back at JJ's. They had planned to meet and hang out the next day as a team. Hotch had dropped Jack off at school and Henry was still with his father. Garcia, Morgan and Rossi had shown up a few moments before, but Reid was anxiously waiting for Emily and JJ. Reid jumped up and down again, ignoring Morgan's chuckle as Hotch's phone rang.

"Hello?" Hotch said.

Reid sighed again in annoyance and Morgan stood up, before Reid knew it, Morgan has lifted him into the air and was running. "Morgan!" Reid squealed in protest. "What are you doing! Put me down!" He demanded. Morgan completely ignored him and plopped him down on the basketball court.

"Come on Kid, let's see your skills." Morgan bounced a basketball over to Reid and he struggled to catch it. Reid glared at him momentarily, then bounced the ball back. Morgan dribbled around him, did a little spin to show off and dunked the ball; turning back to Reid with a grin.

Reid stuck his tongue out as Morgan bounced the ball back over to him and dribbled in place for a minute before Morgan ran over and lifted him up again. "Dunk it Kid." He said. Reid slammed the ball into the hoop and despite himself, grinned. He had never dunked a ball before, and in normal circumstances would never have allowed anyone to help him. Morgan whooped, set Reid down and high fived him, looking genuinely proud. Sheepishly, Reid began dribbling the ball again and then spied Emily and JJ coming into the park. Reid grinned, slapped the ball away and took off running toward them. He never slowed himself down and barreled into Emily, knocking the small girl backwards. Luckily, JJ caught the both of them with a laugh. "Hi Spence." She said in amusement.

"Hi JJ!" Reid said happily as Emily slipped her hand into his. "Hi Emily."

"Hi." Emily whispered back with a bright smile. The three of them walked back over to the group and were met with hellos and grumbles. "What's wrong?" Emily asked worriedly.

"We gotta go in." Morgan announced grimly.

"What?" JJ asked. "Hotch, I thought we were pulled from rotation?"

He sighed in frustration. "We were, but the other teams are all out on active cases and this one is close to home, we can travel there and back. Emily and Reid can stay in Garcia's office in the mornings, and Jessica can pick them up when she gets Jack in the afternoons."

Reid was about to protest that he and Emily could just stay home together, or help consult on the case, but from the look on Hotch's face he knew it would be futile. He shot a glance next to Emily and saw her bitting her lip to silence herself. He could tell she didn't like the idea of being left behind any more than he did; but now that she and JJ were back on good terms, he could tell she didn't want to bring it up. Both of them solemnly nodded their heads and walked along with the group back to the cars. As Emily started to climb into JJ's car Reid grabbed her and whispered in her ear. "I'll bet we can convince Garcia to let us help."

Emily grinned mischievously back at him and buckled herself in. Reid shook his head at the fact that she still didn't have a proper car seat but quickly climbed into Hotch's car without a word.

"Reid, I don't know how long this case will take." Hotch said as he pulled out of the driveway.

"What's the case?" Reid asked curiously.

Hotch caught his eye in the rear view mirror and sighed. "I'd rather not tell you Reid, you're four."

"I'm not actually four Hotch, I'm a federal agent and I do this on a daily basis, my size doesn't mean I can't handle it." Reid quipped back, a little more angrily than he intended.

"Reid, the doctors said that part of you is childlike, we've both seen it multiple times, I don't want it to effect you negatively." Hotch said calmly. Reid knew that he was right, but apparently the childlike bit Hotch spoke of was in full force right now. He crossed his arms in front of himself and pouted, refusing to speak to Hotch any further.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the bureau, JJ nodded to various agents as she entered the bullpen. Some of them gave her odd looks once they noticed Emily, but no one said anything. She picked up her go-bag and headed into the conference room, Emily trailing behind her. Emily immediately climbed up into one of the seats and tried to reach out and get a case file when JJ slid it out of her reach.<p>

"JJ!" Emily protested.

"You and Reid aren't working the cases Em, we don't know how it would effect you."

JJ could tell from the look on her friend's face that she was about to bite back with a protest but Anderson walked into the room. "Who's this?" He asked cheerfully. JJ bit her lip as he bent down in front of Emily and mussed up her hair. The little girl looked like she was ready to kill him with her bare hands. To her credit, Emily didn't say a single word. She hoped down from her chair, gave him a death glare and stalked over to JJ, placing herself directly behind the blonde and out of Anderson's line of sight. "She's shy?" Anderson asked awkwardly as he stood back up.

"Umm, yeah, she's my niece...Emma." JJ said, glancing back at the sullen girl.

"Oh, well, it's very nice to meet you Emma!" He said with a friendly smile. Emily pressed her head into JJ's back to suppress her groan. "Strauss said you guys are free to take company cars, there is a hotel you can stay at if you don't want to travel back and forth in the mornings, but it's your choice."

"Thanks Anderson." JJ said and turned back to Emily as he left the room. "Seriously?"

"He messed up my hair!" Emily groaned, running her fingers through it angrily. JJ laughed and helped her as Morgan, Rossi, and Hotch trailed into the room.

"We've got to get going." Hotch announced. "Garcia's waiting for you guys in her office, Reid's already down there."

"Okay, let me take Em down and then I'll meet you in the parking lot?" JJ asked. Hotch nodded and the guys headed out as JJ led Emily downstairs.

"I know how to get to Garcia's office JJ." Emily informed her, though she didn't sound as annoyed as she could have been.

"I'm aware of that. Tell me, if you saw a child who you didn't know wandering around the bureau, whether they looked like they knew where they were going or not what would you do?" JJ hit the elevator button and turned back to Emily with a smirk. Emily huffed and didn't respond, but JJ caught her stick her tongue out when she thought JJ wasn't looking. JJ just smiled to herself.

"Kittens!" Garcia yelled happily as they came into her office. Reid was up in a seat, a large book in his lap, flipping through the pages quickly; he didn't even look up at them.

"Hey Garcia." Emily grumbled as she tried to get past her to sit by Reid. JJ caught the back of her hoodie and yanked her back lightly. "JJ!" She yelled as her body was turned around to face the blonde.

"I'll come pick you up tonight okay?"

"Okay!" Emily huffed, as she tried to pull away. JJ sighed, wanting to bend down and give her a hug or a kiss goodbye like she usually did with Henry; but with everything that had been going on with them for the last few days, she didn't want to push her luck.

"Bye Pen, bye Reid" JJ said with a wave as she went to catch the guys.

"Well kiddies, were gonna have fun aren't we?" Garcia asked with a bright smile. Emily glared up at her and Reid just looked up oddly from his book. "Or...not?" Garcia sat down and spun around in her chair, staring at Emily.

"We're gonna help with the case." Emily informed her firmly.

"Oh, no, Hotch and JJ both specifically said no to that." Garcia answered quickly. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to work the case. Hotch is a scary man Emily, I do not need his wrath." Emily glared and then spun her chair away from Garcia. "You can pop a movie into my laptop if you want sweetie." Garcia offered.

"No thanks." Emily spun her swivel chair back and forth, ignoring both Garcia and Reid. After a few minutes of Garcia working and Reid with his face stuck in his book, Emily grew incredibly bored. Her idea of entertaining herself led to one spin around in her chair, then kicking Reid's book, only to spin and kick again. Reid didn't seem to find this game as much fun as Emily did, and the fourth time around he yelped out and swatted her leg away. Emily responded by pinching him and he smacked her again. Emily wound up to really hit him hard, but Garcia caught her before she could and pulled Emily's chair away from him; placing herself between the two children.

"Emily!" Garcia warned. "Not cool."

Emily slammed her head back into the chair and groaned. "I'm booorred."

"I've got a ton of movies..."

"I don't want to watch a movie!" Emily interrupted. "I want to help on the case!"

"Find, search all the records you can find on Tom Uley." Garcia said, pushing her in front of a computer.

"Really?"

"Knock yourself out, but stop hitting Reid."

"I only hit him twice." Emily mumbled. She googled Tom Uley, much to Garcia's amusement. Thankfully, the time did seem to go by a little faster, and Emily actually felt like she was contributing something. Garcia wasn't used to hiding her work from two small children so Emily – and Reid – easily figured out what was going on with the case. Children, young brunette girls ages 5-8 had been going missing and turning up brutally beaten and sexually abused in the Baltimore area. It took Emily longer than she would have thought to realize that she was exactly the victimology now. Reid had been the one to point it out to her while Garcia was on the phone with Hotch.

Emily pinched him again.

Jessica came to pick them up around six and took them back to Hotch's. They had dinner and Jack and Reid went off to bed, while Emily remained on the couch watching tv with Jessica until JJ arrived shortly after midnight. Emily hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep, but the next thing she knew, JJ was carrying her into her house.

Emily was too tired to be bothered by it. "How's the case going?" She whispered.

"Alright." JJ said stiffly.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?" JJ set her down gently in the guest bed.

Emily crawled under the covers and smirked up at the blonde. "I still have all my profiling skills Jayje, I know how you look when you lie."

"Em, I...goodnight." JJ said, exhausted. She bent down and kissed her temple before Emily could swat her away. JJ smirked and shut off the lights while Emily grumbled behind her.

The blonde yawned as she made her way to her own room. Another little girl was missing, three were dead and all of them looked like Emily. It had been hard on everyone, Morgan had been testy and quick to anger all day long and JJ had just shut down. Focusing on the case and trying desperately not to think about the little girl waiting for her at home. Going to work tomorrow was going to be very difficult.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you for your guys comments recently, just a small warning, there is going to be some violence in this chapter, swearing, and some sexual violence, involving children. Thanks for reading and hope you continue to enjoy, let me know what you think!**

"Emily this is a bad idea." Reid whispered as he tried to keep stride with the older girl. Emily didn't answer him, only reached back and pulled him up the steps of the bus so he wouldn't be left behind. "I mean it! Hotch and JJ are going to kill us! Everyone will kill us! Morgan will, Rossi will, even Garcia might!" His voice squeaked as he slid down into the seat next to Emily. "It is also highly frowned upon to get on the bus without paying."

"Shut up Reid!" Emily whispered fiercely. "We are trying _not_ to draw attention on ourselves."

"This is a bad idea." Reid moaned again, albeit more quietly. Emily had been relentless about helping on the case; Reid had wanted to help as well, but the prospect of sneaking away from Garcia and doing it without Hotch's permission would have bothered him even as an adult. Now, living with Hotch, being stuck in a four year old's body, it terrified him.

Emily ignored him again, peering out the window to be sure they didn't miss their stop.

Reid huffed and flopped back into the seat. Garcia was bound to figure out they were gone soon enough, and then she would tell Hotch and Hotch would find them and Reid would be in for it. Four or thirty, Reid knew better than to go off on his own in a dangerous situation. Emily didn't count as backup, she was in the body of a six year old, and fit the victimology to a T. Sure, she had borrowed – stolen – a gun which she hid in her backpack, but Reid had watched her work with it awkwardly. Her body didn't have the muscle memory to work it anymore, she refused to see it. Reid didn't blame her, things like that had been bothering him much more recently as well.

The two of them had woken up and been dropped off with Garcia that morning. Hotch had been focused and quiet almost the second Jack had left the car for school. Reid had to admit, Hotch was great at playing that nothing was wrong when Jack was around. He even did it to an extent with Reid; which at first annoyed him, but once he thought about it, it was nice that Hotch cared enough to try and not worry Reid.

Emily had been grumpy and whining to JJ that she was sick of being left behind as they arrived. Reid knew how much she couldn't stand not being able to help, it was in her nature. JJ had very adamantly said no and Emily had clearly stopped herself from biting back some other retort. Reid wished this case hadn't happened right after Emily and JJ had finally made up, it was straining their relationship again.

"I think the next stop is us." Emily said, slipping her arms into her backpack.

"Maybe we should just stay on an go to the library!" Reid offered with a smile. Emily frowned at him and stood up. Reluctantly, Reid followed her. Garcia had been easy to fool; the two of them pretended to get into a fight – Emily hadn't held back her punches one little bit – and the blonde had separated them. Reid had informed the ladies he had to use the restroom, while he was gone, he got their bags and waited for Emily by the elevator. She had written Tom Uley's address down and told Garcia she was off to apologize to Reid and they were going to play hide and go seek. They knew Garcia would be thrilled if they were acting like children; she had offered to order Anderson to play with them, but Emily had shut that down immediately. Getting out of the bureau hadn't been too difficult, other agents had seen them arrive and didn't pay them much attention once they saw that they weren't doing anything they shouldn't be. Sneaking onto the bus had been the most difficult bit, and even that had been easy; they just followed along close behind a family and made it look like they were with them.

"Come on, this is it." Emily grabbed Reid's arm and pulled him off of the bus, hurrying down the street.

"What exactly is our plan here? I mean, Tom Uley was only a minor suspect last we knew, they're looking at that other guy. I overheard them when Morgan called Garcia earlier."

"Yes, but I overheard Rossi and he thinks the same thing I do, Uley's worth a second look. They're is something off about him." Emily said firmly.

Reid sighed. Truthfully, he felt the same way. Emily had shown him what she found on Uley the day before, and they had looked through Garcia's deeper records when she had gone to use the bathroom. Uley had gotten into trouble in high school, there had been an incident with a young girl he had been babysitting that had resolved oddly and looked like it had been swept under the rug. Emily and Reid knew that Rossi and JJ had interviewed him, but they hadn't got anything other then bad feelings and their other suspect seemed to fit their profile better. Emily had a hunch, and Reid knew better than to ignore the brunette's instincts. He just didn't like the fact that the two of them were trapped in children's bodies, completely defying Hotch's orders and that Emily fit the victimology.

"Fine, but can we just look around and then get out of here please?"

"Yeah, relax Reid it'll be fine."

The two of them walked down the street and found Uley's house. It was a one story and run down; the lawn desperately needed to be mowed and it could use a coat of paint. Reid noticed the large white van the team had profiled the unsub would have, and tapped Emily's shoulder, pointing. She nodded and a look of determination slid it's way onto her pale face. Silently and awkwardly, the two of them slipped into their training, slinking along the side of the house, they made their way to the backyard in a crouch that was entirely unnecessary for their current sizes. Finding a low window, they each took a side and peered through it, trying to see past the dirt and dust that had accumulated.

"Doesn't look like he's home." Reid commented.

"Then why's the van here?" Emily asked in confusion.

"It's a one story Emily, I don't see a shed or a basement, where would he keep a kid?" Reid craned his neck to see into the kitchen, it was unoccupied as well. There had to be a bedroom in the back room, or a bathroom, but he couldn't imagine JJ and Rossi missing something.

"Come on." Emily ran around back and Reid chased after her, tripping on some wood and righting himself quickly. "Look, the house isn't that big, how come it juts out back here like this?"

Reid stood back and saw what Emily was saying, Rossi and JJ must not have come back here, or they must have missed it. They were only human. There was some addition to the house, an extra room you couldn't see unless you looked very closely. _Shit_. Reid thought. _This is probably our guy. _"We should call Hotch." He said going to pull out his cell phone.

"Shit! Reid! He's coming outside!" Emily ran over to him and they flattened their bodies against the back of the house, trying to stay out of Uley's line of sight.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Reid whispered angrily.

"Shut up! We found the unsub Reid, text Hotch." Emily turned around watching Uley while Reid fumbled with his phone.

**Hotch, Uley is our man.**

That was all of the message Reid managed to get out before he heard Emily tell him to run. She was fumbling with her glock and Uley caught sight of them. The man bolted at them and Emily fired her gun, missing as she tried to force her small hands to work the instrument she used to be able to use without a single thought. Uley reached them and Reid ran, zig zaging his body around as Emily mimicked him, trying again to aim the gun at Uley. Reid's little legs weren't fast enough and he felt a large hand latch onto his shoulder. "EMILY!" He squealed. He heard a second gunshot and Uley yelled but lifted Reid up and held him tightly.

"Drop that fucking gun!" He screamed, his arms winding around Reid's neck. "Or I'll kill your little brother."

Emily glared at him, the gun faltering slightly in her hands, Reid whimpered involuntarily as Uley's hands tightened around his neck. Emily threw the gun into the bushes, rather than just drop it or give it to him and raised her hands in surrender. Uley noticed Reid's phone still clutched in his hands and snatched it, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it with force.

"You got a phone too?" He asked Emily angrily.

"I'm six what do you think?" She spat back. Uley's nostrils flared and he stamped over to her. Shifting Reid to one arm, he grabbed a hold of Emily's hair and pulled her along, kicking and yelling into the house. Reid screamed for help too, knowing this was their best chance for a neighbor to hear them, but he was thrown inside and landed with a thud onto the couch.

"Sit the fuck down." Uley threatened as he frisked Emily looking for a phone. He was getting off on it already, Reid yelled out which only made Uley hit him. He still had a hold of her hair and she kicked her legs out, landing a good hit to his shins before he slapped her. Reid charged him, running with all the speed he had and slammed his body into Uley's legs. The force knocked Uley back slightly, but he caught his footing and kept his hold on Emily's hair, cursing loudly. "You little shit!" He screamed. He twisted Emily's body around and managed to clamp her arms together, tying them tightly. Reid saw Emily wince and he ran at him again, trying to get his attention off of his friend. Uley shoved Emily down hard and caught Reid with a laugh. Reid tried desperately to kick and hit him, but Uley overpowered him while chuckling, tying his arms and legs and dropping him down onto the couch.

"We have people who will come looking for us. They know where we are." Reid yelled forcefully.

"Good for them." Uley said, putting duct tape over Reid's mouth. Reid could only watch helplessly as Uley shoved Emily up and into the back room, slamming the door. Reid crawled awkwardly down off the couch and tried to wriggle himself across the hall, but with the restrictions on his hands and legs, he didn't get much more than bits of rug and scratches on his body. It felt like hours, but Uley came out of the back room minutes later. He stomped over to Reid, lifted him up into he air and carried him to the back. Dropping him down on a mattress in the middle of the floor next to Emily and closing and locking the door.

Reid turned his body and saw Emily. She was sprawled out on the head of the mattress, her hands still bound, there was blood on her face, and duct tape over her mouth now as well. The only thing Reid could do was roll his body over twice until he was pressed against Emily.

* * *

><p><strong>Hotch, Uley is our man. <strong>

Hotch stared at the text message that came up on his phone, confused. He hadn't told Reid anything about the case, how did the boy even know they had been looking at Uley? "Morgan, have you talked to Reid?" He asked.

Morgan looked up from the file he was reading, a frown on his face. "No, why?"

"He just sent me a text message about Uley? He said he's our man, how would he even know about him?"

Morgan's frown deepened and JJ picked up her phone, dialing Garcia and giving Hotch a hard look.

"Hey Pen, did Emily and Reid get into your files?" JJ asked, cutting right to the chase.

"No, not that I know of." Garcia's voice answered through the speaker phone. "Well, Em knows about Tom Uley cause she googled him instead of hitting Reid, but she didn't find anything more than I gave you guys."

"Are they right there?" Hotch asked. "Can I talk to Reid?"

"No, they're up playing hide and go seek. Actually, they have been for a while, I was going to go find them and see if they were hungry once I finished the search for Leo Green's medical records."

"How long is a while?" Rossi asked.

"Umm...I dunno, like almost two hours?"

"Reid _just_ sent me a text about Uley." Hotch said. He caught Rossi's eye and got an ominous feeling. "Garcia, go look for them, call us back once you find them please." Hotch asked, keeping his voice calm.

"Hotch..." JJ said, her voice laced with worry.

"We have no idea what's going on, they probably got into the files, think they saw something and ran off so they wouldn't get into trouble; let's not worry until we know we have to."

JJ nodded but bit her lip and shot a nervous glance to Morgan. Hotch sat back down, something didn't feel right.

* * *

><p>Emily shifted her body around and pulled Reid's duct tape off his mouth. He yelped and rolled away from her backside. "Ughh, that hurt." He complained. Emily kicked him and glared, hoping to convey her message of, 'get this the fuck off my mouth now'. Reid scooted forward and wriggled his fingers. Emily placed her mouth in front of them, and Reid worked the duct tape off.<p>

"Fuck!" The brunette yelled.

"Little girls shouldn't swear." Reid chastised with a smirk.

Emily kicked him again.

"We've got to get out of these restraints. He's dumping the body of the other girl, he'll be back soon."

"How do you know that?" Reid asked as he worked himself into a sitting position. "Did he hurt you? I mean...did he..." Reid trailed off.

Emily ignored him and stood up – her legs hadn't been bound – and walked around, looking for something to try and cut the ropes around her wrists with. "Why else would he leave? I fit the victimology, and she would be here otherwise. If she's not in this room, she's not in this house, he would be in here with me if he didn't have something he had to do first."

Reid remained silent. Emily tried not to think about exactly what Uley would want to be doing with her once he came back. She had seen the files, seen what he had done to the other little girls before he inevitably killed them. Finding nothing Emily groaned loudly and kicked the wall.

"I sent Hotch the text before he smashed my phone, they have his address, they'll come find us." Reid said quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Emily continued walking around the tiny room, desperately looking for _something_. She couldn't just sit still and wait; wait to be tortured, raped and murdered. She knew the team was coming, whether they came before or after was the problem. At least Reid was a boy. Uley hadn't shown any interest at all in boys, and he was too little he could be spared some. The problem with that, the thing Emily wouldn't voice out loud, was that Uley might just want to get rid of Reid immediately. Once he came back, Emily had to keep his attention on her, not Reid.

* * *

><p>"Hotch um...I can't find them anywhere." Garcia's tearful voice cracked through the speakers.<p>

"Goddamnit!" Morgan yelled, slamming his hand into the wall.

"Aaron." JJ said, her eyes piercing into Hotch's.

"Suit up, we're going to Uley's." Hotch ordered. The team and the local policemen scrambled to get there things and they tore out of the parking lot.

* * *

><p>Emily stiffened as she heard a car pull into the driveway. He was back.<p>

"Emily..." Reid said shakily. The brunette girl turned and saw tears in Reid's eyes. She walked over and sat down next to him, placing her body partly in front.

"We'll be fine Spencer." She said gently. "Like you said, Hotch is coming. The whole team is, we're gonna be fine."

The front door slammed and Emily braced herself as footsteps came across the floor and the door opened. Gritting her teeth, Emily rose and charged him before Uley could say anything. He grunted and stumbled, but caught her soon enough and punched her in the stomach. Emily refused to cry out, knowing it only enticed him. Reid was yelling behind them for Uley to leave Emily alone, but she shut him out, kicking and head butting for all she was worth. Uley laughed, wrenched her around and cut off the ropes, freeing her hands. For a half second, Emily froze in shock, she certainly hadn't been expecting that.

Realization dawned on Emily as she was punched again. He liked it when they fought back, if her hands were free, it would be more fun for Uley. Disgusted, she knew the team better get to them soon, or things were about to get a whole lot more unpleasant for her.

"Leave her alone!" Reid screamed as Emily was kicked. Tears welled up in her eyes and she was having a very difficult time controlling her screams. Despite her training, she was terrified. "Our parents are going to come really soon, and they are going to kill you if you hurt her anymore!"

"Oh really?" Uley seemed amused by Reid. "Mommy and Daddy are going to kill me?" He scoffed. "I doubt it."

Uley pulled his t-shirt off over his head and Emily whimpered as he hit her again. Her stomach was going to be covered in bruises, maybe even her ribs. Emily tried to crawl away as Uley laughed cruelly behind her. He walked over and picked Reid up, Emily tried to fight him, and managed to get a good kick in, but he slammed the door closed on her face. She pounded her fists against the door, hating their small size and crying. He might be killing Reid and there was nothing she could do about it. He was probably going to come kill her too, but he certainly wouldn't be quick about it. Emily let out a sob, she wanted JJ, Hotch, Morgan, anybody.

The door opened and Emily fell over, looking up at Uley's cruel smirk. "What did you do to Spencer!" She demanded.

"I shoved him in a closet. I'll deal with your little brother later, I promise. Until then, you and I are going to have some fun."

Emily tasted bile in the back of her throat as Uley unzipped his pants and dropped them to the floor. Terrified, she looked around for something to fight him off with, coming up empty, she balled her hands into fists. Uley laughed and pulled down his boxers. He was already hard. Emily wound up, attempting to punch him in the balls but he caught her hand with a cruel laugh.

"Don't worry, you'll get to touch it soon enough."

Crying, Emily wrenched her hand free and clenched her teeth, where was JJ? Where was the team? Why was she so little? She had never felt more helpless in her life. Angrily, Emily took a deep breath, she would not give him the satisfaction of crying. Wiping her eyes, she glared, looking him straight in the eye. She would stare him down the entire time.

Uley was clearly unnerved, he paused for a moment, then stepped forward and ripped Emily's shirt off. She couldn't stop her body from shaking as the cold air hit her bare chest. She knew that she didn't have breasts to cover anymore, but she crossed her arms in front of herself all the same.

As Uley tried to pull her pants off, Emily hit him with everything she had. He was bigger and he was succeeding, but she was getting some good hits in. Standing there shivering in only her cotton underwear, Emily gave him the iciest glare she could muster. "He's right you know." She said, forcing her voice not to waver.

"Is he now? About what?" Uley asked.

"My mother is going to kill you." Emily said coldly.

"I'd like to see her try." Uley laughed.

"Sounds good to me." JJ's harsh voice spat out. Emily looked up, unable to believe that she was really there; yet, there she was. The blonde had her hair pulled back, her gun pressed to Uley's head and the fiercest, most frightening look on her face that Emily had ever seen. Emily had never been happier to see her friend in her life. "Thomas Uley, you are under arrest for the murder and rapes of Angela Harris, Jane Wyle, Sarah Hoffman, and Tracy Kelly. And for the attempted rape and murder of Emily Prentiss and Spencer Reid. Put your hands on your head, _now_." She ordered.

Uley did as he was told, keeping his eyes on Emily the whole time. Morgan stepped forward and cuffed him roughly, shoving him out of the room and yelling for someone to get clothes for him.

Emily began to shake as she clutched herself, JJ holstered her gun and dropped to the floor in one fluid motion; pulling Emily into her arms and holding her tightly. "You're okay, you're okay, I've got you." She murmured softly as Emily began sobbing.

"Is Reid...?" Emily managed to choke out between sobs.

"He's fine, Hotch has him." JJ reassured her quickly. "He was in the hall closet, Hotch is getting him checked out as we speak. Are you...did he..." JJ's voice broke as she looked Emily up and down.

"No, you got here just in time." Emily whispered. Relief flooded JJ's face and she quickly wrapped Emily in a blanket and picked her up. Still shaking and not caring one bit who saw, Emily wrapped her arms tightly around JJ's neck and continued crying.

"You are going to the hospital, it is not a discussion." JJ said as they walked out of the house.

"You come too." Emily demanded.

JJ let out a small laugh as they climbed up into the car, Emily could see Reid out of the corner of her eye. The little boy was on Hotch's lap, his head pressed into the older man's chest, tears in his eyes. Hotch was rubbing his back and speaking softly to him.

"Em, I am not letting you out of my sight." JJ said gently. The car pulled out and Emily clung to JJ, keeping her eyes on Reid as they drove to the hospital.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you for the feedback from the last chapter, I promise, it will start getting fluffier again soon:)**

Reid kept his eyes on Emily as they drove to the hospital. He refused to be moved from Hotch's lap, embarrassment had no point here. Emily was clearly in the same boat as him, her arms were clutched tightly around JJ's neck and she was crying softly. Reid was torn between wanting to move over and hug her, and not wanting to be separated from Hotch. Reid had never been more terrified in his life. When Uley had picked him up, Reid had thought he was as good as dead. He had kicked and squirmed as much as he could, but his body was too little to make much of a difference. Hearing Emily screaming and crying from behind the locked door, Reid wanted nothing more than to get to her and help her, but Uley shoved him into the closet.

"I'll be back soon, kid, I promise." He had growled. Reid shook, unable to stop himself from crying as Uley locked him in the dark. Somehow, that made it so much worse. He curled into himself, sobbing, he could hear Emily still yelling. The front door cracked like it had been kicked down and Reid jumped, hearing people enter the room he breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to push the door open again, desperate to be out of the dark.

"Help!" He yelled. "I'm in here!"

The door opened and Reid was greeted with Rossi's face. "Spencer...are you alright? Hotch! I've got him!"

Hotch ran forward and Reid threw himself into his arms, getting himself out of the dark, tiny room. "He's got Emily!" Reid yelled in terror. "He's gonna hurt her, there's a back room!" He pointed, trying to push Hotch forward.

"JJ and Morgan are in there." Hotch assured him as more police officers came into the house. Reid clung to Hotch as Morgan shoved Uley roughly through the room. He was naked, an officer threw a blanket over him and Reid stiffened at the sight of him. One man shouldn't frighten him so much.

"Did he hurt her?" Reid whispered into Hotch's neck.

"I don't know buddy, come on let's get you checked out. JJ's got her." Hotch said calmly. Reid could hear the worry in Hotch's voice as he carried him outside. Morgan was shoving Uley into the back of a cop car and officers were all around. Reid wouldn't let Hotch put him in the ambulance, asking to ride in the SUV instead. Reid had been shaking without knowing it the whole time. It seemed like hours passed until Emily and JJ finally came outside and got into the car. Reid had to stop himself from crawling across the seat and hugging Emily, she looked terrified and so small. Reid pressed his head into Hotch's chest instead and looked out the window.

* * *

><p>Emily kicked three different nurses before JJ finally chastised her. She didn't want anyone to touch her besides the blonde, she knew it was irrational, but she couldn't help it. Every movement people made caused her to jump or flinch.<p>

"Em, sweetie, you've got to let them check you out." JJ murmured softly. Emily shook her head back and forth and pressed further into JJ and away from the nurse. She heard the blonde sigh and felt arms wrap around her. Emily was aware of how childish she was being, but for the first time, her instincts were winning out and she simply didn't care. Everything hurt and was scary and all she wanted was JJ. "Emily, this woman, excuse me what's your name?" JJ asked.

"Miranda." She answered with a smile.

"Miranda, is very nice and she is just going to check you. I'll be right here sitting next to you."

"No."

"Emily, I can't take you home until we know if you're alright." JJ said. Emily heard her voice crack slightly in frustration. She lifted her head and studied JJ's face, the blonde was serious. Emily turned and glared at Miranda. The woman looked friendly enough, but Emily couldn't care less.

"You can sit on your mom's lap if that helps, I just need to check your stomach and ribs. The most we might have to do is an X-Ray." Miranda said gently.

Emily deepened her glare, but shifted her body so it was facing Miranda. JJ steadied her and took one of Emily's hands, kissing her temple. The second Miranda touched her, Emily involuntarily flinched and clutched JJ's hand tighter. "You're okay." The blonde murmured quickly. "I've got you." The words only reassured Emily so much, but she shut herself down and remained in place. She was a Prentiss, she could put on a brave face, at least for a few minutes.

Thankfully, nothing was broken, she had some severe bruises on her stomach, a black eye and was incredibly sore, but she would be okay. Miranda gave her some pain medication and she began to get drowsy as JJ sighed her out. They walked back into the waiting room and Garcia instantly stood up and ran over to them.

"Is she okay?" The blonde asked worriedly. JJ nodded, and held Emily tighter instinctually.

"Yeah, she'll be okay, how's Reid?"

"Couple of bruises, he's alright." Hotch said as he stood up. Reid was in his arms, fighting to stay awake as well. "He wanted to see Emily." Hotch explained. JJ nodded and turned her body slightly so the children could see each other.

"Hi Spencer." Emily murmured sleepily. He held his hand out to her and she took it, winding their fingers together.

"You okay?" He whispered.

Emily nodded into JJ's shoulder. "You?"

"I'm okay." Reid yawned.

Garcia looked back and forth between them, tears in her eyes before Morgan put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Let's go home." Hotch said. "We can get statements tomorrow."

The group dispersed and Emily was half asleep as JJ gently buckled her into the back of the car. The lull of the drive and the medication she had been given rocked her into sleep before she knew it.

JJ turned her car off and glanced in the rear view mirror, thankful that Emily had fallen asleep. Henry was with Will and she had texted him and asked for him to keep Henry a little longer. JJ's hands shook slightly as she opened the back door and looked at the little brunette girl. She had been terrified as the team had gone into Uley's house. They were met instantly with Reid and Emily's screams, and they had pierced through JJ. Hotch had immediately gone to Reid while JJ had sprinted to the back room. Morgan hadn't even gotten a chance to kick the door down, JJ had done it before he could lift his leg. Seeing Emily, standing there cowering and clutching herself with that naked fuck standing over her, JJ had almost shot him then and there. If Morgan hadn't quickly touched her arm with his shoulder, she might have.

JJ turned around and took a deep breath, leaning against the car. She hadn't lost it yet. She had poured all her energy into making Emily feel as comfortable as she possibly could. JJ doubled over, her hands resting at her sides and choked, tasting bile in the back of her throat. Coughing, she tried to calm herself down, hearing Emily stir from the car.

"JJ?" She called out.

JJ took another deep breath, wiped her eyes and stood up, turning around and smiling at Emily. "Hey, we're home." She said. Emily looked smaller than ever and she reached her arms out instantly, fighting against the seat buckle to get to JJ. "Hang on, I'll get it." JJ unbuckled Emily and the little girl all but leapt into her arms.

"JJ?" Emily asked timidly.

"Hum?"

"Can I...can I sleep in your room tonight?" Emily whispered so softly JJ wasn't sure she heard her correctly.

"Either that, or I'm going to crawl into your bed in the middle of the night." JJ said with a laugh, trying to lighten the moment a little. JJ could feel Emily smiling against her shoulder and grinned. The two of them were exhausted, and the medication was really taking it's toll on Emily. Both of them climbed into JJ's bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

><p>"HOTCH!" Reid's voice screamed. Hotch woke up and tried to get his bearings straight. "HOTCH!" Reid screamed again. Hotch jumped out of his bed and ran down the hall to Jack's room.<p>

"Daddy, Reid's scared." Jack complained quietly.

"I got him buddy go back to sleep." Hotch said quickly. He bent down next to Reid's air mattress and felt the little boy practically crawl up him like a tree.

"He's got Emily Hotch! We've got to get her away from him!" He yelled.

"Reid, Emily's safe, she's with JJ." Hotch tried to remind the little boy. Reid pushed against Hotch, trying to get them both out of the bedroom. Hotch had made sure that Reid had a night light, and he had left the hall light on, but he could tell Reid was still frightened. With a sigh, Hotch awkwardly lifted him up and went out into the bright hall, blinking to get his eyes used to the light.

"WE HAVE TO GET EMILY!" Reid screamed.

"Shush, Reid, you'll wake Jack up again. Emily is with JJ, she's alright remember?" Hotch said as he pushed Reid's hair out of his face. There were tears in the little boy's eyes. Hotch sighed, and hugged Reid tighter. "Want to go sit on the couch?" He asked.

"Can I have cereal?" Reid asked quietly.

Hotch chuckled softly and carried Reid in one arm into the kitchen. Pulling out different cereal boxes, Reid shut down all of them with a very impatient shake of his head. Hotch sighed, Reid got difficult when he was cranky and frightened. Finally, they settled on mixing plain cheerios, peanut butter captain crunch and cocoa puffs together in one big bowl. Reid was uncomfortable at the table, so they moved over to the couch, and Hotch turned the tv on. He had recorded a couple of episodes of Doctor Who, and Hotch pulled one up, knowing how much Reid liked the show. Reid shuffled himself so he was on Hotch's lap and picked at his cereal, keeping his eyes mostly on the tv. Hotch couldn't get into this show, but he was trying.

"Is she really okay?" Reid whispered a few moments later.

"She will be. How about you?"

"He didn't really hit me." Reid said without looking at Hotch.

"Reid, I know physically both of you are going to be perfectly fine, that's not what I was talking about."

Reid picked at his cereal mixture and took a small soggy bite before grimacing at the taste. Hotch took the bowl away from him and turned Reid so he was facing him. Reid kept his gaze down and picked at Hotch's shirt instead of looking at him. "I'm okay I just...I couldn't help her. I was too _little_." He spat out the word with disgust. "We thought...I mean, we trained for stuff like that but..."

Hotch didn't say anything, knowing there was no point. The kids had learned their lesson in the worst possible way. They were _painfully_ aware that they were no longer adults who could handle situations like their former selves. Repeating it would only make Reid feel worse, and he sure as hell wasn't about to say anything to Emily, not until she was an adult, probably not even then.

Reid yawned and leaned back against Hotch, curling his little body into itself and closing his eyes. Hotch lifted Reid up and carried him back to Jack's room. He was about to set him down when Reid clutched his shirt. "Can I sleep with you instead? With the light on?"

"Sure Reid." Hotch said with a smile.


	17. Chapter 17

Hotch woke up and groaned. There was someone sitting on his chest. "Jack...get off" He said without opening his eyes.

"It's Reid."

Hotch opened his eyes and was met with a mop of curly light brown hair. Reid was in fact sitting on top of Hotch's chest, hands on his knees, starring at the older man intently.

"Good morning." Hotch said quietly.

"Jack's still asleep." Reid explained. Hotch glanced over at the clock and let out a groan, it was five in the morning. He wanted to still be asleep as well.

"Reid...did you get any sleep?" Hotch asked gently. Reid nodded and slid of Hotch's chest, maneuvering himself next to him. "How much?" Hotch asked. Reid only shrugged and lay down, turning his body away from Hotch's. Hotch sighed and instinctually started rubbing Reid's back. That always worked with Jack. "How about we try to get some more huh?" Hotch asked. Reid nodded slowly and Hotch closed his eyes, still not entirely awake himself. The two of them had been up after Reid's nightmare for at least an hour and hadn't gone back to bed until about three am. Hotch was exhausted. He could tell Reid was nodding off and his arm was getting tired, he dropped it down onto the bed.

"Hotch?" Reid asked immediately.

"Hum?"

"Nothing, just checking." Reid shuffled his body so he was facing Hotch. Hotch opened his eyes reluctantly and looked at Reid. He was about to say something, but the little boy only reached his hand out and took a hold of Hotch's shirt, then closed his eyes. Hotch smiled and closed his own, only for a moment.

"Daddy?"

Hotch was never going to get to sleep.

"Yeah buddy?" He asked without moving, he wanted to at least keep one kid asleep.

"Reid's gone."

"No buddy, he had a bad dream he's right here."

Jack moved forward and saw Reid in his father's bed and frowned. He liked Reid, but that was _his_ daddy. Jack immediately crawled into the bed and hugged Hotch from behind. "Me too Daddy." He whispered.

"I got you buddy, close your eyes." Hotch said, praying the little boy would go to sleep.

"Okay." Jack whispered. Within minutes, all three were out cold.

* * *

><p>Someone was grabbing her.<p>

Emily shoved at the arms, crying out and shaking. She had to get away. If she didn't get away, she would be hurt and she wouldn't be able to save Reid. Emily screamed.

"Em, wake up." JJ ordered. Emily opened her eyes and got her bearings straight. She was in JJ's room. Uley wasn't there and from the blood on JJ's lip, Emily had just hit her in her sleep.

"I'm so sorry JJ." Emily sat sitting up and trying to wipe the speck of blood away.

"Em, it's fine." JJ said, brushing her off. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Emily sat against the headboard and brought her knees up to her chest, clutching herself. She was embarrassed. She always was after anyone caught her in a nightmare, it had always made her feel extremely vulnerable. When she had nightmares as a child, her nanny would sometimes comfort her, but usually if her mother found out she had been up, she would chastise her about loosing sleep or acting childish. Emily pulled into herself and refused to look at JJ. The blonde wasn't having any of it. She scooted over and sat down impossibly close to Emily, mimicking her position, but putting her arm around Emily. Her first instinct was to pull away, but JJ held her in place.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." JJ murmured. Emily shook her head, trying to wave her off, but JJ hugged her. "Emily, I mean it. Don't compartmentalize, don't shut me out, not after something like this."

Emily sighed and leaned her head against JJ's shoulder. "I'm not trying to, I just...I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

Emily could tell JJ would rather press her on it, but to her credit, the blonde didn't say anything more. The two of them sat there in silence until they both nodded back off.

When Emily woke again, her entire body ached. Falling asleep sitting up, leaning against the headboard and JJ hadn't helped matters much. JJ had slumped over slightly, keeping a protective arm around Emily. She looked very uncomfortable. Emily shook her gently and she groaned in protest.

"I can't move." JJ complained.

"I'm worse off than you." Emily teased lightly. JJ tensed as Emily began to crawl out of the bed and Emily froze at the look on JJ's face. "No, Jayje I was just joking, I'm just a little sore." Emily lied. In truth, her whole body felt horrible. She didn't want to move at all, but she didn't want JJ to worry. From the look on the blonde's face, she wasn't faking it very well.

"You should take a bath, I'll make coffee."

"No, Jayje I don't..."

JJ lifted Emily up before she could finish her sentence and started a bath, shutting her in the bathroom without another word. Emily frowned, but soaking her sore muscles in hot water sounded fantastic so she stripped her clothes and gently lowered herself in the giant tub. She sat there wordlessly until she felt calm. It took much longer than she would have liked, the water had already turned cold. Slowly, Emily stood up and climbed out, standing there naked next to JJ's full length mirror. She drew a sharp intake of breath at the sight of herself. Her stomach was covered in large purple-green bruises, there were more on her knees where she had fallen, and around her wrists where she had been bound. Looking at them made Emily furious and scared all over again and she crossed her arms in front of herself in a failed attempt to hide them. Before she could say anything, JJ knocked on the door and walked in, gasping at the bruises.

"Oh my god...Emily." JJ made to move over and hug her, but Emily stepped back quickly and slipped on the wet floor, crashing her elbow into the tub. "Emily!" JJ yelled as she caught her – not quite soon enough. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Emily groaned, rubbing her elbow. "You just startled me is all." Emily let JJ help her up and tried again to cover herself up. She could care less about being naked – she and JJ had roomed together often enough to see each other in that particular position before – it was the bruises she didn't want the blonde to see.

"Come on, I ordered some pizza, let's get you dressed."

"Pizza for breakfast?" Emily asked with a light laugh. JJ only grinned back as Emily pulled on a t-shirt and pants. "Well, you get coolest mom award for sure." Emily joked.

"Come on, I made coffee." JJ beamed. Emily started walking and winced at the pressure to her bruises. She could tell JJ noticed. "Piggyback ride?" The blonde asked. "Might make the stairs a little less painful?"

Reluctantly, Emily held her arms out and allowed JJ to lift her up onto her back. It did help take some of the pressure off. The two of them downed three slices each, Emily hadn't realized how hungry she had been. She hadn't eaten since before she and Reid had left to go to Uley's the morning before. Despite her best efforts, Emily was anxious and agitated all morning long. Little sounds, like JJ's phone going off, caused her to jump and it infuriated her. JJ was very calm and cautious around the brunette and she hated making her so worried. Emily was trying to focus on a novel when JJ's phone went off, JJ made sure Emily was okay, then stepped into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hey Em, would it be okay with you if Reid came over?" JJ asked as she stepped back into the room. Emily nodded. She needed to see Reid. JJ turned back to her phone. "Yeah Hotch, that's fine...we'll see you in twenty."

Emily braced herself as she heard the car pull up into JJ's driveway. She wasn't afraid of Hotch, but she knew she was going to jump if he tried to touch her. The doorbell rang and Emily felt like she was going to throw up. JJ gave her a reassuring smile and opened the door, greeting Hotch and Reid, sans Jack. Reid yelled hello to JJ as he ran past her and immediately climbed up next to Emily on the couch. The little boy wrapped his arms around hers and hugged her side.

"I was worried about you." He whispered.

"Me too." Emily held one of his hands and Reid tightened his grip. "You okay?" She asked, needing to hear it from him again.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah." Emily smiled. "Want to watch _Doctor Who_?" Emily asked. From the kitchen, Hotch groaned and JJ laughed.

The two adults remained in the kitchen, leaving the kids to themselves, knowing they needed the time together.

"How's he holding up?" JJ asked Hotch as she passed him a cup of coffee.

"Was up half the night, but he doesn't have too many bruises. I think he'll be okay now that he's seen her. In a few days at least, how's she doing?" Hotch asked.

JJ sighed. "Umm...she...she's got _so many_ bruises Hotch." JJ said, her voice cracking slightly as she fought back tears. "I just...he came so close to..." JJ trailed off, and Hotch placed his hand on top of hers.

"But he didn't." He said firmly. "We got there in time. _You_ got there. She is alright JJ, she is probably one of the strongest people I know."

"Yeah but now she's only six!"

"But she's got you." Hotch said with a tiny smile. JJ shot him a look, and he shut up, enjoying his coffee and letting JJ work through her thoughts. In truth, this had truly rattled them all, but Hotch knew Emily and Reid would both be fine with time. They would just have to be there for them until that time came. As they heard laughter from the other room, JJ's face flooded with relief and Hotch grinned into his coffee mug. Perhaps that time would come sooner than he thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**I apologize for the gap in updates, I don't have a good excuse. I procrastinated, I'm a shit, sorry. That being said, I am beginning to wind this story down, I wanted to let you know so it didn't come out of nowhere. There will probably be one more chapter after this one. I won't leave a huge gap in-between them like this again, promise. Hope you enjoy:)**

JJ flopped down onto Garcia's bed with a deep sigh. Garcia chuckled softly at her. "Someone's tired I see." She said.

"Henry and Emily are conspiring against me. They are never tired Garcia, they're full of energy I can only drink so much coffee."

Garcia stifled a laugh as JJ complained and pat her leg. "Well, Hotch gets to deal with them now, and you get a few hours to yourself. What do you want to do?"

"Honestly? Sleep."

"Well, my bed is yours." Garcia announced.

JJ smiled at her friend and got comfortable. It had been almost a week and a half since the incident with Uley; Emily and Reid had both been doing much better. Emily still got a little jumpy now and then, and she had had some nightmares; most nights she ended up in JJ's bed at some point, but they were working on it. According to Hotch, his situation with Reid was pretty much exactly the same, they were making progress, but slowly. Having Henry back had actually helped Emily significantly, it seemed to normalize everything for her. JJ was happy that Emily was finally embracing childhood, but she wasn't exactly keen on the pranks Emily and Henry had been doing. The brunette was turning Henry into the perfect sidekick and the two together were becoming a holy terror. JJ was completely out of peanut butter due to a prank the night before. She had only finished cleaning the kitchen – and her hair – moments before she arrived at Garcia's.

* * *

><p>Hotch was baffled that four children could be so loud. When he had agreed to take Emily and Henry for the afternoon, he had laughed off JJ's warnings about their antics lately.<p>

He would never take advice from JJ lightly again.

His living room was currently covered in bed sheets, some of them he didn't even remember owning. The children had decided to make blanket forts after Hotch had stopped the cardboard sword fighting, the science experiments in the kitchen – he was still cleaning up the mess that resembled pudding – and the concoction that was in the bathtub...Hotch didn't even want to think about. Emily and Henry had only been there for two hours.

"Jack!" Hotch yelled as he saw his son standing on the top of the couch, poised to leap off and attempt to jump over Emily. "Don't even think about it."

Jack slumped, dejected, but it didn't last long. Emily motioned for him to climb down and began whispering in his ear. Hotch didn't like the look of that at all. He was mostly letting them do whatever they wanted, only stopping after it got too messy or screamed broken bones. It was good for Emily and Reid, this was the most he had seen them smiling in over a week. Emily and Jack disappeared back under the fort and he heard giggles from Henry. Smiling, Hotch turned back to the mess on the floor and groaned.

JJ owed him.

* * *

><p>Morgan heard what sounded like a war zone going on behind the door to Hotch's house. He hesitated before knocking. Hotch had called him half an hour before and pleaded – as much as Hotch would ever plead – for Morgan to come help him with the kids. Hotch was determined to give JJ a break but was way over his head. Morgan reluctantly agreed, having nothing better to do and going a little nuts without a case.<p>

"Hotch?" Morgan called as he opened the door.

"Morgan!" Emily cheered, she ran at him and vaulted up into his arms. "We're playing water tag." She announced. Morgan looked Emily over, the little girl was soaking wet, her clothes were clinging to her small body and her hair was dripping. She had a grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye and looked every bit like a happy six year old girl. Morgan didn't see a hint of pain in her eyes and he had never been more grateful. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek as she giggled and squirmed out of his arms, producing a water gun he had failed to notice. "Guess who's it?" She asked devilishly. Morgan's grin fell and he held up his hands.

"Prentiss, don't you dare this is a brand new coat."

"Better take it off quick." Emily smirked.

"Emily Prentiss, I swear to god don't you even..." Morgan silenced as freeing cold water splashed him in the face.

At least she had given him the courtesy of not aiming at his jacket.

Morgan stripped his coat and stuffed it into one of the couch cushions to protect it. "Girl, you better run." He said with a grin. Emily screamed with delight and took off announcing to everyone that Morgan was here.

Morgan caught Hotch's eye as he rounded the corner and sighed with relief. "Oh thank god, help me get them outside, or...get the weapons away from them?"

Morgan nodded and snatched the gun out of Reid's hands with ease. "Outside and you get it back." He ordered. Reid pouted, but took Jack's hand and pulled the other boy outside with him. Hotch lifted Henry and carried him after them, leaving Morgan to wrangle up Emily. "Princess? Where are you?" Morgan called. "You better not hit me with that thing again." He peaked into Jack's room and didn't see anyone. "Come on, everyone's outside." Morgan turned around and was hit with a spray of water again, this time flat in the chest.

"Gotcha." Emily said with a smirk.

"Run." Was Morgan's only response. Emily screamed and did just that, bolted out of Hotch's apartment and into the courtyard with the rest of the kids. Morgan grabbed her around the waist and lifted her above his shoulders tickling her lightly; remembering that she still had a couple of small bruises.

"This is fun huh?" Emily asked shyly.

"Yeah it is." Morgan said with a smile.

"It was my idea." She grinned. "So was the experiment in the kitchen. That didn't turn out so good though." She admitted. Morgan laughed, swiped her water gun and sprayed her with it.

"Not your finest idea, this one's much better."

"Morgan!" She squealed and took off, using Reid as a shield. The little boy tried – and failed – to get away from Emily and took three sprays of water to the face before Morgan relented. Reid turned around to Emily and yelled at her while Morgan laughed. Hotch was deflecting Jack and Henry who each had water balloons and were poor shots.

The six of them played well into the rest of the afternoon and were still at it by the time JJ and Garcia got back to Hotch's.

"What is going on here?" JJ asked with a smile as the two blondes approached.

"Mommy!" Henry cheered, dropping his water balloons and running to her. JJ scooped him up, and held him out a little once she realized how wet he was.

Garcia immediately went over and picked up a water balloon and chucked it at Morgan. The two of them began attacking each other with the help of Jack, who took no sides and went after them both. Hotch slumped down onto a bench, happy to have no one's attention directed at him for a moment. He let himself relax and didn't see Emily sneaking up behind him and was shocked when he was hit with what felt like the millionth spray of freezing cold water. He was too tired even to react, much to Emily's disappointment.

"Hotch." She groaned. "At least yell."

"Ah." Hotch muttered.

Emily stared at him then shook her head. "Pathetic." She squirted him again then ran off to help Jack.

JJ walked over and sat down next to him. "I see you've been having fun." The blonde smirked and shifted a sleepy Henry on her lap.

Hotch glared at her. "You owe me big time."

JJ just laughed and bumped her shoulder into his. "You guys eat yet?"

"No. They blew up the kitchen. Or I should say _Emily_ blew up my kitchen."

JJ laughed and passed Henry over to Hotch's lap. "Sorry, I'll go make something, you relax."

Hotch nodded his thanks, shifted Henry and closed his eyes. He was woken up by gentle shaking from Garcia half an hour later. "Hey Hotch, kitchen's clean, kids are still soaking wet and the food's ready."

"Thanks Garcia." Hotch said gratefully. The blonde took Henry and they walked back inside. JJ had the kids sitting on the floor on top of some plastic tarp she had found, passing out sandwiches. Hotch plopped down next to Jack and kissed him on the forehead. JJ had called Rossi and invited him, and the whole team ate their fill. Half of them were soaking wet and some were almost asleep, but they all had a blast. Somewhere in the middle of it, after Henry had already fallen asleep, the phone rang and Hotch got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Agent Hotchner? This is Dr Green, I'm one of the doctors who checked out your other agents, Prentiss and Reid?"

"Oh, hello." Hotch leaned against his refrigerator and watched his team as his listened.

Reid was sticking something up Morgan's nose.

"We've completed all of our tests on the samples and I'm happy to say we're ready to give the antidote to your agents. Does tomorrow morning work for you?"

"Um..." Hotch was blindsided. He knew this was coming, but if he was honest with himself, he had sort of forgotten. Life with Reid and Emily as children had practically become the norm after over a month. He watched as Morgan lifted Reid away from him and laughed as the little boy kicked out to try and get away.

"Agent Hotchner?" The doctor asked.

"Oh, sorry, um, yes tomorrow morning should be fine. What time?"

"Is eleven too early?"

"No, that should be fine, thank you."

"You're welcome, see you tomorrow Agent Hotchner."

"See you tomorrow." Hotch hung up the phone and stared at his team.

"Who was on the phone?" Rossi asked casually.

"Um...it was one of the doctors, the antidote is ready." Hotch said calmly. Everyone's eyes whipped to him. "We're expected at the hospital at eleven tomorrow morning."

"What?" Emily asked, looking back and forth between JJ and Hotch. "Tomorrow?"

Hotch nodded. The room had gone silent and Hotch wasn't sure what to say to them, so he remained quiet as well. After a few awkward moments of silence everyone sort of collectively decided to call it a night. They agreed to meet back at the hospital together early the next morning. Reid had gone absolutely silent since Hotch had brought up the news and the second everyone had left he went to take a shower. Hotch helped Jack get ready for bed and tucked him in.

"Daddy, is Reid going home tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah buddy he is."

"I like having him here." Jack said sadly.

"Yeah, I like having him here too buddy."

"Will he come back and visit?"

Hotch sighed, having no idea how to explain things to Jack. "Maybe buddy. That would be nice huh?"

"Yeah." Jack smiled and held up his arms. "I love you Daddy."

"Love you too." Hotch kissed Jack on the forehead and walked out of the bedroom, bumping into Reid. "Hi."

"Hi Hotch." Reid answered without looking up at the older man.

"You up for some cereal?" Hotch asked.

Reid looked up at him. "We just ate."

"I realized I'm still hungry."

Reid gave Hotch a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm still hungry too."

Hotch pulled out boxes and they mixed different cereals together again, both of them sitting there and mostly picking at it. Neither of them seemed sure of what to say. There was a lot Hotch could think of, but he didn't want to make Reid uncomfortable.

"Are you done with that?" Hotch asked Reid. The boy hadn't even taken one bite of his soggy cereal. Reid nodded and pushed it over. Hotch dumped them both down the garbage disposal and turned back to Reid who was doing everything he could not to look at Hotch. "Spencer?" Hotch asked. Reid finally looked up at him. "I've really enjoyed having you stay here, so has Jack."

Reid gave Hotch his signature little smile and looked back down at his hands. "Thanks Hotch, I...me too. Thanks, for...everything."

Hotch nodded and walked over to Reid. "Anytime Spencer." He said sincerely. Reid hoped down off the stool and the two of them walked down the hall to their bedrooms. Hotch smiled as Reid took his hand and squeezed it, then went into Jack's bedroom.

"Goodnight Reid." Hotch waved.

"Night Hotch."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi everyone, I'm as sorry to see this story end as you are, I've really enjoyed writing it. Hope it was as fun for you guys as it was for me:) **

Emily felt numb. Ever since Hotch had announced that the antidote was ready, she had no idea what she was feeling. Part of her was elated, finally this ordeal would be over and she could return to her normal life. She could go back to her apartment, she could go back to work, she could go back to being able to reach the top shelf without standing on a chair. There was another part of her however that didn't want this to be over. She liked living with JJ. She liked letting someone take care of her, trusting someone, actually enjoying being a child. It surprised her. Before this had happened, if someone had asked her if she would have wanted to do her childhood over again, she would have said no as fast as she could manage.

She blamed this all on JJ. If she had stayed with anyone else, she probably wouldn't feel this way. JJ was maternal, she had been even before this had happened. The blonde was good at taking care of people, Emily had simply never allowed her to until she had no other choice. Now, now she had grown used to it, enjoyed it, and part of her was terrified that she would rely on it.

That had been her fear from the beginning. She would learn to trust JJ, and to need her to be there and then she wouldn't be.

Emily hadn't said a word after her initial reaction but she found her eyes continually going back and forth between Reid and JJ. Tomorrow was so sudden. She knew it was coming, but she had somehow figured she would have more of a warning, time to prepare. In a way, it made sense. It had all happened so suddenly, it might as well end the same way.

As everyone was getting their things to leave, Emily went over to Reid. "Hi." She whispered. Reid took one look at her and wrapped his arms around her neck, squeezing tight. Emily was a little surprised, but he had let himself become more affectionate – at least with her – since they had become children.

"We're gonna be grown ups again." He whispered as he clutched her.

"I know."

They held each other for another moment, as tightly as they could then simply let go. "See you tomorrow." Reid said with his little wave.

"Yeah, see ya." Emily walked over to JJ and accepted her coat. The two of them walked out with Garcia, Morgan and Rossi. Garcia slipped her hand into Emily's and squeezed. Emily could hear her crying softly. She didn't know what else to do, so she just gave Garcia a quick hug and slipped away, climbing into JJ's car. She didn't move or look at JJ as she buckled a sleeping Henry into his car seat. The ride was silent, full of tension and awkward. Emily could tell JJ was dying to say something, but she was praying that she wouldn't. Not yet. Emily couldn't deal with it yet.

The second JJ turned the car off, Emily climbed out and ran ahead inside. JJ called after her, but was busy getting Henry to bed and Emily was taking advantage of that. She stripped her wet clothes off and dropped them in a pile on the floor. Shivering she pulled on a large t-shirt and some panties and climbed into bed. She could hear JJ moving around outside and she pulled the covers over her head.

A few minutes later, JJ knocked on her door. Emily didn't respond.

"Em, I know you're not asleep yet. It takes you forever." JJ said through the door. Emily groaned and pulled the covers tighter. "I'm coming in." JJ announced. The door squeaked open and Emily shut her eyes despite being under the covers. "Em?" JJ said. Emily felt her sit down on the side of the bed. "I know you're awake."

"No I'm not." Emily protested.

"Oh really?" JJ said with a laugh. "Scoot over."

Emily didn't move but lifted the cover up to let JJ in. The blonde raised her eyebrows but grinned and slipped under the covers. "What time's the appointment tomorrow?" Emily asked softly.

"Hotch said eleven, but we were thinking of all going out to breakfast beforehand." JJ tucked her arms up under her face and scooted herself down so their faces were next to each other. "If you want." She added.

"We're not gonna eat here?"

"No, we can. I told him I'd let him know, he wasn't sure that Reid would want to go out yet either. It was just an idea he had."

Emily sighed and bit her lip. "Can we just eat here, you, me and Henry?" Emily asked without looking at JJ's face. "And then maybe we can just get coffee with everyone before the appointment?" She added quickly.

"That sounds great to me Em." JJ smiled and pushed some of Emily's hair out of her face.

"JJ?"

"Hum?"

"Thanks. I...thank you for everything." Emily's voice cracked as she spoke and she stuffed her face into the pillow, suddenly shy and embarrassed. She didn't know how to articulate to JJ just how much she was grateful for everything the blonde had done. No one had ever gone to these lengths for her, and it wasn't something she would ever forget. "I...I will babysit Henry anytime you want, I'll buy him his first car, I'll pay for college."

JJ burst into laughter and pulled Emily into a hug. "I think I can settle for free babysitting. Well, maybe you can pay for his books or something." She joked. Emily smiled and snuggled into JJ, wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"You...Jayje, you know I love you right?"

JJ beamed and hugged Emily tighter, planting a kiss on her temple. "I know. I love you too Em. And, this hasn't exactly been a burden on me you know, I've liked having you stay here."

"Me too." Emily snuggled closer and closed her eyes, falling asleep as JJ rubbed her back.

* * *

><p>Reid woke up to Jack poking his side. "Daddy says you're going home today." He said forlornly. Reid sat up and looked at Jack.<p>

"Yeah, I am." He sighed.

"I liked having you here." Jack pouted.

"I liked it too."

"Boys! Come get breakfast, we've got to meet the team for coffee in half an hour." Hotch yelled from the kitchen. Reid climbed out of the air mattress and followed Jack into the kitchen. They climbed up and accepted their chocolate chip pancakes greedily. The three of them ate happily, getting maple syrup all over each other before Hotch ordered Jack and Reid to both take quick showers to clean up.

They piled into the car – Reid had packed up all his things while Jack was in the shower – and headed out. Jack waved goodbye to Reid as he ran into school and Hotch drove them to meet the rest of the team for coffee.

"Hotch?"

Hotch pulled the car to the side of the road and turned around.

"You're a really good dad." Reid whispered.

"Thank you." Hotch said with a smile. "You are a good kid."

Reid beamed. Somehow, that was all that needed to be said between the two of them. Reid knew Hotch would always be there for him and that was enough. Hotch started the car again and they pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. Reid climbed down and took Hotch's hand as they walked inside.

"Hey!" Garcia squealed as she caught sight of them. Reid let the blonde pick him up and hug him, knowing this was the last time he would have to endure it and not hating it as much as he used to. The fact that she refused to put him down however...he wasn't exactly too keen on that.

Garcia carried him over to the table the team had taken over, chatting away a mile a minute about his cuteness and how much she wished she had gotten to play with him more. Reid silently pleaded to Morgan for help and the man took pity on him. Reaching over he pulled Reid out of Garcia's arms and plopped him down next to Rossi. To his right, Emily was sitting next to JJ with a smile on her face. She bumped her shoulder into Reid's and sipped the coffee in front of her.

Reid had been worried that this would be awkward or sad, but it only felt like a normal team outing. He was happy, he and Hotch had already had whatever moment they were going to have. If Reid was honest with himself, he was thrilled to be an adult again.

"It's 10:45 guys." Rossi announced. "We've got to head over to the hospital."

Reid glanced at Emily and stood up, following Hotch to the car in silence. The team regrouped and walked into the hospital waiting room together. Reid sat down next to Hotch and folded his hands into his lap. He watched with pride as Emily ignored everyone around her and climbed up onto JJ's lap, leaning back against her. They waited in silence together until the doctor walked over to them.

"Hi!" She said cheerfully. "Everybody ready to be adults again?"

Reid shared one last smile with Hotch, then stood up and walked over to the doctor, waiting for Emily. Emily turned around, hugged JJ and walked over to Reid, following the doctor down the hall. The two of them changed into the clothes they had brought along and climbed onto the table. Reid glanced over at Emily warily as the doctor pulled out two needles. Emily tensed up next to him and Reid took her hand as the nurse swiped their arms.

"I sort of hate needles." Emily admitted.

"Me too."

Emily turned and smiled at Reid. "I had fun being a kid."

Reid grinned back at her as the nurses took their arms. "I did too."

Emily laughed. "We look ridiculous like this."

"We won't in a couple of minutes."

Emily and Reid held each other's hands as the nurse counted down. She injected Reid first and he winced and squeezed Emily's hand. Then she did Emily and the little girl mimicked his expression. He didn't feel anything different and looked up at the doctor in confusion.

"Congratulations." She said with a shocked smile. "That is...sort of phenomenal. I know this man was horrible and he killed people but...damn that's a scientific breakthrough."

Emily and Reid turned back to each other in awe. Just as quickly as they changed the first time, they were adults again. Emily held her hands out in bafflement.

"Now, just as it took a little adjusting to get used to your smaller bodies, it might take you a little bit to get back to being used to this." The doctor warned them.

"Thank you." Emily said, standing up and shaking the woman's hand. She felt relief that she hadn't expected. The doctor left them alone and Emily turned to Reid. "Do you feel weird?" She asked.

"Actually...no." He said with a tiny grin. "I feel kinda great."

"Me too." Emily picked up the small clothes she had come in with and stuffed them into her bag. She and Reid walked back down the hall to their waiting team. Emily felt suddenly worried that the team would be upset, or that JJ would be different, but the second the team saw them, their eyes lit up. Garcia screamed and JJ leapt up and hugged Emily tightly.

"How'd you feel?" She whispered.

Emily sighed happily. "Taller than you."

JJ laughed, punched her lightly on the shoulder and moved over to hug Reid.

"Princess, welcome back to the land of adults." Morgan embraced her with a smirk.

"Thanks." Emily laughed.

"Now, please, please can we go back to work? I am going nuts." Morgan begged Hotch.

"I second that." Reid said, giving Hotch a grin. Emily caught his eye and as they all walked out together, she slipped her hand into his and gave it a small squeeze.


End file.
